It Is Written
by EndingsAndBeginnings
Summary: Sequel to It Is What It Is. Kira's still going strong as L rejoins the case with Near and Mello, but now B has escaped again, ready for another rematch with L. This time, however, he's going right to the heart of the Kira case: Japan. Here, all paths will converge... and perhaps a few will be lost on the way. LxOC, LightxOC, MelloxOC, and NearxOC.
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to the third story of the _It Is _series. Because that's an awesome name for a series.**

**...Not really.**

**Now, I'm going to say right now that I'm not happy with the first bit of this story. I feel like nothing happens and I had a writer's block at the time of writing it. So... needless to say, I'm not confident in it. _But _if you bear with me, there will be some pretty major events goin' on here. Speaking of which...**

_**Warning**_**: Later on in this story, there will be some pretty messed up and/or really depressing scenes, on different premises. I'll be warning you, though, at the beginning of that particular chapter.**

**Because I'm a nice person.**

**I think.**

**Well, I'm going to stop rambling now so you can read the first chapter. I hope you enjoy it~**

* * *

_I stood in a dark labyrinth, below murky grey clouds that painted the sky, leaving no spaces. Said clouds swirled ominously towards the center; the center of the web of many paths. In the core of it all, the grey mass swirling around it ever so slowly, was a tall, dark tower. The heart of everything. Pitch black windows against black architecture, and as I took a step into the maze I could hear a loud, echoing sound that one might not be able to place at its first hearing. It was strained; the sound of a clock tower's hands moving. The exaggerated noise of a ticking wristwatch. The sound of time. That tower… the heart of everything; the core of time…. Nothingness._

_Tall gates waiting for us at the end of the maze; a welcoming passage to whatever was beyond, whatever was within that tower. But that was at the end, and we were barely at the beginning. We…. My hand was clasping another. The simplest form of connection anyone can give. Together we would wander the maze, always dreading what lie at its end. Together we would walk, our paths tied._

_There was another resounding click of a clock hand changing its position. Bracing ourselves, we continued, all too aware of where we were headed, but denying it all the same…._

My eyes flickered open. I looked to the clock, nodded to myself, then sat up and stretched. "What do you know?" I said to myself as I swung my legs over the side of my bed. "We can have dreams after all…." I immediately made my way to my closet and picked out my clothes, all too aware of the hidden passageway within that led to the attic. My secret place, where I went once a day for a very special ritual: judgment. I smiled to myself, changed, then headed down the stairs. My mind was not as disoriented as it used to be in the mornings; our minds sorted themselves out far quicker than they used to. We were getting used to the final step….

Downstairs, Sam and Anna were there to greet me. Anna, of course, was my thirteen-year-old, light brown-haired, loveable, innocent niece. Then Sam was my best friend, also on the final step. She was currently nineteen, and in case you can't remember, she has long, dark brown, curly hair. Unfortunately, my other niece, Sierra, wasn't with us. A bright, optimistic, brown- and wavy-haired girl at the age of nineteen, the same age as Sam. But then, she had only turned nineteen the week previous, on May seventeenth. Today was Friday, May twenty-first, 2010; four days after.

Ah, and me. At twenty-one, my brown hair was still short, straight, flat, and lifeless, but I was okay with that. That allowed it to be considerably soft, and I _do _like soft things.

"Hey, what are you doing up, Sam?" I asked, taking a donut from the box (as was our typical morning ritual: donuts).

She looked at me dully. "L," she explained shortly.

"Did he wake up?" asked Anna, then corrected herself. "Oh, wait…. He never sleeps…."

"The Bond can be annoying sometimes," she sighed. "But it's not too bad, at least…."

I chuckled. "Sure it can be annoying, but nothing's perfect."

"True."

Let me explain. Or rather, _re_-explain, as this is a new memoir, a new story to read. We were, as you may be able to tell, in the world of Death Note. We'd come here all the way back in 2004, six years ago. We got ourselves involved in the Kira case, and we saved some lives along the way. The Bond, or the mind synchronization, or whatever you may call it, was a connection within the mind between someone from the real world and someone from this world. I was tied to Light, Sam to L, Sierra to Mello, and Anna to Near. The mind sync had a series of steps, or stages, where the connection progressed. From the real-world-person reading their thoughts, to vice versa, to hearing things long-distance, to feeling each other's emotions, and so on and so forth. The _final _step was an infinite connection between the two…. Even if one is hurt, the same damage will be done to the other's body.

Now, let me remind you of our situations here. If you already remember them, then I sincerely apologize. In March, two months ago now, Light regained his memories and convinced me to start judging for him. He eventually could never get his memories back, and now he and I, along with Misa, Mikami, and Sierra, were all working as Kira. Sierra had been kidnapped by Mello – _again_ – and now traveled with him and Matt. Anna worked with Near in the SPK to catch Kira, and Sam worked with L on the Kira case while occasionally doing some work on the side whenever something interesting arose. Just last month, they'd finished a case that went country to country, all across the world. I'm actually surprised it took as long as it did, though, considering it _is _L, after all. After it ended, he got right back on the Kira case. Now here we were, a month after it all, and things still seemed to be going on as normal.

I took a long sip of milk and stood. "We… I'll be going to work," I told the two.

"You did it again, Aunt Natalie," said Anna. "You said 'we.'"

I smiled and sighed. "Sorry. I'm getting better."

"Yeah?" asked Sam, her mouth full of donut. "That's great." She didn't sound enthusiastic.

I chuckled and shook my head before striding through the living room and out the front door. As I shut it behind me, I took a deep breath of fresh air. I was soon walking down the sloping driveway towards my workplace: the police station. Even before my destination was reached, our thoughts were sorted and as isolated as they could get at the final stage. Light and I had taken Sophia's – she was another girl from the real world – advice of pulling away, and it made all the difference. An individual could zone out again… it's just that the other was always aware of what the individual zoned out about. It was like a part of us that you could ignore or pay attention to however you liked. It was just that you could not _forget _about it; it was undeniably there, always.

When I stepped into headquarters, Matsuda seemed to be ranting to Light and Ide about something or other by the coffee machine. Light turned to look at me, and Ide followed suit, now realizing I was walking towards them. "Matsuda's got a new theory," Ide told me, pointing with his thumb at the troublemaker.

"No, I'm serious!" Matsuda cried. "Natsumi, back me up on this!" Even now, he called me by my old alias….

I already knew what he was saying through Light's recent memory, but I decided it would be slightly weird that I knew that without being there. Besides, Light hadn't heard all of it, either. "Matsuda, I don't even know what I'm backing you up on."

"Well, think about it!" he exclaimed. "The Kira case stalled for five years because Light was Kira, and therefore we were being led by Kira, right?"

"Yes," Ide agreed hesitantly, glancing at Light.

Light frowned ever so slightly.

"No offense, Light," Matsuda added. "I mean, that, uh, other Light that became Kira and all that. Not you."

"No, Matsuda, it's fine," Light responded. "What happened has happened. It's a fact."

"Okay…. Well… anyway, we were making no progress because Kira was right under our noses. So why isn't the SPK getting anywhere, huh? They don't want us to work with them because they think we're incapable, but they're not doing much better. They did fine last time, though. So then… what's holding them back? Kira must be right under their noses, just like it was with us!"

"Well, that's a possibility…," I told him.

"And Near's their leader, so…. Therefore," he proclaimed, "Near is Kira."

"…Matsuda, I don't think Near would act as Kira," Light pointed out.

"Well, no, think about it! Near was the one who burnt the notebooks, too, so he had the perfect chance to save one. How do we know he didn't keep one for himself so he could judge? I mean, I never trusted Near…. And then he just waited a month for things to calm down, and then he starts it up again! He doesn't want us to work with him because he's afraid we'll figure it all out. It all matches up; there's logic in it!"

Ide pinched the bridge of his nose. "Your logic is screwed up."

"It is not!" Matsuda protested.

"Okay," I came in, "everyone has their own opinions. He may be right, or he may be wrong. I know that Near would have the ability to do it; that's true. He nearly killed Mikami with the Death Note as well. However, we also don't have a motive. He hates Kira; why would he act as him? There are arguments for either side."

"But then, your logic matches up with the rest of the SPK, excluding Anna," said Light. "Rester, Gevanni, and Halle all had access to the notebook after they switched Mikami's notebook, and as Near trusts all three of them, he typically wouldn't think of them immediately."

"Actually," I added thoughtfully, "Gevanni was the one who switched the notebook and forged it. He could have always forged an extra one; he has the potential. I mean, the whole group touched the Note before they went to the warehouse, most likely, so that notebook at the warehouse could have been a fake."

"So it was Gevanni!" Matsuda exclaimed. "It all makes sense!"

"Didn't you just make a claim that _Near _was Kira?" Ide asked dully.

"Well, yeah…."

I just smiled, laughing softly, and shook my head. You had to love Matsuda…. Of all the things those of us from the real world had messed up in this story, Matsuda was still Matsuda; silly and oblivious. He was able to brighten the mood of a place even when all was serious. He was the child figure in the realm of adults we stood within. Aizawa certainly didn't appreciate him, though….

Nor did L.

But that's beside the point.

In any case, it was here where, after a month of idle investigation, things began to happen again. Sure, now the four of us – Light, Matsuda, Ide, and I – were only discussing the Mello case, but it was in this time, there and then, that the third chapter of this story took hold. Around here, anyway.

Let us begin on a lighter note….

* * *

"Sierra, get up," said Mello, looking back on a Sierra who was lying on the floor. "We're leaving soon."

"I'm lazy," she replied, staring up at the ceiling. "And mad."

"I know you're mad; you don't need to tell me that," Mello responded with a frown.

Matt looked up from his packing. "Why're you mad?"

"Anna let slip that peoples were having a get-together tonight at my house, but I can't be there because I'm here. I'm slightly irritated about it." She breathed a sharp sigh, then sat up and looked at Matt as Mello left the room. "Matt," she asked, "do I look different to you?" Sierra had made it a point in her head to not get corrupted from the use of the Death Note, and had therefore decided to ask Matt every once in a while if anything had changed about her.

He looked at her through his orange-tinted goggles. "What do you mean, _do you look_ _different_?"

"Do I act different lately, is something different in my face, something like that."

He continued gazing at her – she couldn't tell the expression in his eyes because of the goggles. "You look more tired," he offered, then looked back down at his bag and continued to pack all of the wiring to his computers. "Am I supposed to notice a good change, or what? '_You look lovely_.' '_Did you do something with your hair?_' '_Ooh, you look _nice_ today;_' is _that _what you're looking for?"

"Uh… no."

"Okay. What, are you worrying Mello is starting to rub off on you?"

"…_Yeeaah_…."

He chuckled. "Alright. I won't tell him that."

"I can hear you!" Mello called in his half-irritated way.

Matt laughed. "Well, looks like he knows anyway."

"Yeah…," Sierra agreed.

* * *

"Near," Anna announced, "you will be coming to the party tonight."

He looked at her dully. "What party?"

"Me and Aunt Natalie and Sam are all having a get-together tonight at my house." She looked back at Gevanni. "You're invited too."

Gevanni blinked.

"It's rude to invite people to an event in front of people who aren't invited," Near informed her.

"It's fine," said Rester.

"Well, wait, what is it all about anyhow?" asked Halle.

Anna shrugged. "I wanted some fun."

"Why aren't Halle and Rester invited?" Gevanni asked blankly.

"They're boring," Anna responded, pursing her lips.

He laughed as Halle crossed her arms. "And Near, of all people, is invited?" he asked amusedly.

"Of course he is!" Anna snapped.

"Is now really a good time to host a party?" Near put in. "Kira is still loose, as is Mello. Also, your sister isn't present because of her kidnapping."

"That's true too…," Gevanni agreed.

"Well, it's just a few people getting together," Anna defended. "It's just to catch up on things and such."

"Who'll be there?" Gevanni inquired.

"Well," said Anna, squinting pensively as she began to count on her fingers, "there's me, Aunt Natalie, Sam, L, Light, Near, Matsuda, you… that's it."

"I'd rather not go," Near stated, twirling his hair.

"Why _not_?" Anna cried. "You meanie poop; I'll _drag _you there!"

"Please don't."

"Well, you went to the get-together back when Sam came back from India or wherever she went! Why can't you come to this one?"

"He's not really a people person," remarked Halle.

"I'll get Sam to bring you, then. Unless Gevanni helps me…. Gevanni, can you get Near to come? Please? We can feed him so that he doesn't die of starvation, and… and it'll be amusing! The thing in general, not feeding him…."

Gevanni glanced at Near, and Near glared at him pointedly.

"It's not like he'll fire you," Anna pressed. "He needs you!"

Gevanni pursed his lips.

Thus was how Near was to come to the get-together.

* * *

The get-together was a nice thing; a spot of fun in serious times. (Kira is back; danger is ahead – but of course we don't know the latter….) My only regret about the thing is that Sierra and Matt couldn't come; they would have been fun to have and, quite frankly, I felt bad for Sierra, not being able to be here. Oh well….

It seemed that Gevanni and Anna had gotten Near to come along, and home with me from the NPA came Light and Matsuda. Now we needed only to wait for Sam and L's wonderful entrance. Matsuda certainly knew how to keep the place lively, and it amused me to watch the people of separate groups mingle. Near kept to himself, mostly, but Gevanni enjoyed talking to Matsuda. Although, I did notice that he seemed to be amused just by the sheer stupidity of him…. In his opinion, anyhow. Anna ran around, talking to every person, particularly trying to hold a full conversation with Near. Near, unfortunately, remained stubbornly blunt.

It wasn't too long before the door burst open – of course Sam was making a dramatic entrance – and announced, "I brought pocky!" This, of course, shifted everyone's attention to her instead of whatever individual things they were doing.

"Wait," said Gevanni, turning to look at Matsuda. "What's pocky?"

"Oh, right!" Matsuda laughed. "You're from America! Pocky is a delicious treat, like candy."

"It's like a Kit-Kat, but Japanese, and better," I explained.

Gevanni cocked an eyebrow. "Better than a Kit-Kat, huh?"

"I wanna play the Pocky Game with every person here!" Sam grinned.

I blinked. I'd completely forgotten about that game.

"What is the Pocky Game?" Near asked dully. He didn't look very happy about being here. Meanie poop.

Sam heaved a sigh, and explained it so everyone knew what she was talking about. I don't need to explain it here simply because I already have, in the memoir previous to this one. "Okay," she said when she was done, "who's first?"

"I wanna play!" Matsuda exclaimed, running over.

"Of course you do," I sighed, smiling as Sam held up a pocky stick between them and L shut the door behind him and Sam.

"He's lively, isn't he?" Gevanni remarked.

Light nodded. "Lively and enthusiastic."

"And idiotic," Gevanni added.

Light chuckled. "That too, sometimes."

I watched intently as Sam and Matsuda drew closer, but at the last moment, Matsuda pulled back. Realizing he'd lost, he let out a cry of, "Darn it!"

Sam replied with a triumphant smile and cantered over to the next closest person: Near. She looked at him a moment, and Near looked at her. Then she just frowned and gave a flat, "No," before moving on.

Matsuda laughed, then attempted to strike a conversation with L as Sam continued on her rounds. Near stared quizzically after her.

Sam shook the box. "Does anyone else want to play with people?"

"No, thank you," Anna frowned.

"Aw…!" Sam cried. "Meh!" She moved on to Gevanni. "_Gevaniii_… wanna play the _Pocky Gaaamme_…?"

He shrugged. "Sure," he replied, taking the stick of pocky. Matsuda came over to talk with Light, as L hadn't been very satisfying conversation-wise. I watched as Sam and Gevanni reached the middle, but the moment their lips touched Gevanni pulled away.

Sam's face lit up. "I'm awesome at this game!" She held out a pocky stick to Light, who raised his eyebrows but obliged and took it. Before even making it near the middle, Sam pulled away with an, "Okay, no."

Light chuckled, and I smiled. "I figured something like that would happen," I remarked.

Sam sputtered. "Yeah. Why don't _you _play with Light?" she grinned, waving a pocky stick in front of me.

"Because I don't want to play the Pocky Game," I replied simply.

She frowned. "You're no fun. I'll play with L," she offered.

"I'll play," said Anna, holding out her hand.

Sam gave her a stick. "With who? Near?"

"_Matsuda_," she corrected, pouting.

I sighed as Anna walked towards Matsuda, who was now holding a conversation with Gevanni again. "Fine," I agreed, holding out my hand.

She grinned impishly and handed me a stick. I heard a yelp from Matsuda. "She tried to eat me!" he cried. Anna was laughing hysterically. "I don't think you're supposed to go that fast…." She continued laughing.

While most everyone's attention was shifted to Matsuda, I grudgingly offered the pocky to Light. He took it casually and leaned down to be at my height – I, even after all these years, was still short. Drawing from Light's calmness so I didn't die, the Pocky Game commenced. Matsuda noticed, and laughed. "I guess it's a good thing that Misa wasn't invited, huh?" he asked joyously.

"Huh?" asked Anna, looking over. Sam was giggling madly by the time the middle was reached, too, but there was a problem: neither of us wanted to lose. Light raised his eyebrows as my face grew steadily redder, until eventually we decided mentally to pull back at the same time.

At the same moment, we both straightened up and said simultaneously, "Tie."

"Aw, poo you guys!" Sam frowned.

So the get-together was enjoyable and filled with jokes, light-hearted remarks, laughter, ranting, and all-around happiness. No tickle fights this time… but it was still a good time. Sam kept her end of the deal and played the Pocky Game with L – Sam lost – and eventually all was over and darkness filled the sky. A good beginning, I think, to a bit of a distressing story.

* * *

**There's the first chapter for ya~**

_**Fun Fact**_**: I didn't know ****how this story was going to be distressing when I wrote that last sentence... xD But that's how it ended up, so we're good.**

**Review? For Matsuda's silly theories? :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**Anonymous reviewersss~**

_**The Reading Kind**_**: **...Or the second time, evidently. xD And perhaps he _will_ face off with the Kiras. Who knows? c: He really is going 'til death, isn't he? Though if he were rendered incapable of this sort of thing (like, if he were burned alive, perhaps...), then he'd have to quit... Aha. Poor Sam and L indeed, although... they _already _have trouble sleeping... So... Hm, well, it's alright you feel bad for B and Sophia. They have their reasons for sympathy, whether they're known reasons or reasons to-be-discovered. C:  
So you noticed Natalie left Mello out? xD Yeahh, she actually doesn't like Mello all too much. Especially considering he keeps kidnapping her niece. You know, I'd have a hard time picking between Kit-Kat and Pocky too... Hmm... Sorry to scare you with the unknown of what may happen in this story, but hey, there's always Matsuda. :)  
..._Until there isn't_.  
...Just kidding~ Did you just say you suspect there's another step in the Bond? Ooh, what a theory. I cannot refute or confirm that theory. But if that _were _to happen... That would be just terrible. And creepy. xD Fun to write, though~

_**Amy**_**: **Happy to make you smile! ^^ I will warn you that your feeling is right... At least one person _will die_ in this story. So... there's that. It won't be _too _bad, though. ...I hope.

_**Reader**_**: **I thank you for that wonderful image you have given to my mind. xD I'll have to keep that in mind. I know the truth now. Near is actually Kira... and Mello is secretly the prince of Sealand! _It all makes sense now!_

_**Mysterious Guest**_**: **I'm not a fan of lying, but... I can't really completely help you with this... for the simple reason I'm really bad at this kind of thing. How to ask parents stuff... I draw a blank. Probably because my parents are usually cool with the things I choose to do. And if they disagree, I just give them a few good reasons to accept. So... Yeah... That's my way of persuading: just giving a few good arguments. It's really your call how you go about this... So... I'm sorry.  
I'm glad you liked this story so far. c: And if you're going for a job, I hope you get it. I myself am going to try for a summer job this year.

_**Random**_**: ***pet* It's okay. I like your review all the same, first or not~ I'm rather glad you like the dream. I like metaphorical (and perhaps dramatic) things. c: Anna... she's always adorable. She's just... amazing. She's... well, she's Anna. I'm...sorry you get worried whenever you read Sierra's point of view, then, I think. But Mello _will_ eventually find out... We just don't know when... Teehee.  
...Did you just ask if Max was a supervillian? xD That would be amazing, but... no, sorry, Max isn't a supervillian. He can't melt L's brains or anything like that. And... you like the title? ;v; Yayy. And no, actually, I haven't heard that quote. You're right, though. This world is turning mad, eh? In fact, I'm going to take note of that quote, because there could be one called 'It Is Said' that may just use that its advantage... Hm. You worry for Misa? I... just feel bad for her. I really do.  
...I love the Pocky Game.

**Alright guys, so there's going to be a double update this week. Why? Because... _Friday is Sierra's birthday!_ :D**

**So, enjoy the chapter~**

* * *

A dark brown-haired, unshaven man by the name of Henry Morgan with eyes that had a sense of wildness to them, gesturing madly towards another man, black-haired and pale. "_He's evil!_" he exclaimed. "_He's possessed; don't you see it in his eyes?! We must kill it!_"

Beyond Birthday laughed at the scene; a crowd was beginning to gather around the center of the courtyard of Atascadero State Hospital. "He can't die!" he corrected, playing along with his current façade. "He can't die yet; not yet, not yet!"

"He can, and he will!" Henry insisted, staring at B with wide, serious eyes. "Kill the demon before it kills us all!" The man was a victim of paranoid schizophrenia; poor guy….

The man being accused cried out, holding his hands to his head. "No, no, no, no, no…," he mumbled, rocking on his feet. "I didn't do it this time; I told you; all of you…." His face was thin; he looked ill. Damien Connors. B wasn't sure what he had….

Henry released a battle cry and charged as the employees ran forward to hold him back. Damien cringed, and Henry howled in distress when he was restrained by the workers.

Beyond grinned delightedly despite the fact he found nothing amusing about this scene. "Silly, silly Henry. Mr. Connors is not due to die until next week!"

"I feel bad for him," commented Nick Geraldy, the man whose bed lay next to Beyond's, back in the sleeping area of the institution. He had short, shaggy, dirty blond hair and blue eyes. Sometimes his pupils would dart around; that's when you knew he wasn't at his best. Right now, though, he was gazing steadily at the employees as they called everyone to go inside. He had, in some ways, befriended Beyond, but B's friendship was typically a lie. Still, he learned some things about Nick. B knew Nick's name and when he would die immediately upon meeting him, but now he knew his story: he had extreme bipolar disorder, and had killed his mother and younger brother in a manic fit. Having regretted it, the prison warden had sent him here for help. That was the gist of it.

Nick looked at B. "You've been taking your medications, right?"

B twitched. _No, I have not been taking my medications, _he thought. _I don't need them, because I am _not _a catatonic schizophrenic_. Of course, he had to play along with it. "No," he admitted. "I don't need it. I'm fine. See? No episodes!"

"You're jittery, Beyond," Nick told him. "You've still got symptoms…. Trust me, taking what you need helps. And you've gotta believe me when I say you still need them, because you do."

"Sophia says I'm fine," B sniffed. He was getting rather good at acting.

Nick looked at him. "Sophia might be wrong."

"Invalid!" B snapped. "She's always right!"

Nick lifted his hands, showing peace. "Sorry; just something to think about."

B knew he was right, of course. If he was only twitchy when he didn't have what he needed, they might think his supposed 'condition' wasn't as severe as they predicted. In this case, they may send him back to jail, where he'd likely be executed. Maybe that night he'd have a catatonic episode, just to make the lies the doctors thought to be true seem more real. Of course, it wasn't catatonic schizophrenia that affected him, but the final stage of the Bond. No one could possibly get that, though, so he continued to live by his false diagnosis. After all, it wouldn't be long before he could get out again….

He had a plan.

* * *

"Near," said L into the mic, "what do you think of this investigation? What have you deduced thus far?"

"Well," Near responded, his voice altered, "we know Light is somehow involved. A notebook had to have been stolen from the Kira Task force headquarters and switched. This was most likely Light, and there is proof of this in the point that Misa was caught with the Death Note. The day I lied and said I would be detaining Light – the day I died – it was proven the same people from before were involved. Also, Natalie could only have been involved because of the fact Kira somehow knew of my plan – Anna is likely to have told her. Where we are now, we know Light, Natalie, and presumably Misa is involved. Someone with the shinigami eyes is judging, and it isn't certain whether or not Light has his memories intact."

L nodded. Sam was lying on her stomach on the bed behind him, her knees bent and her feet in the air. She was gazing intently at nothing in particular. "May I add something to that, Near?"

A pause. "Of course. Have I missed something?"

"Not necessarily…. For one thing, I know for a fact Light is in the know of what is going on; Light and Natalie are on the final stage of the Bond, or mind sync, and thus one cannot do something without the other knowing. It's as simple as that. Also, there is another figure working alongside Kira, judging: Mikami. There was a breakout in his jail, where many of the criminals died of heart attacks not long after they escaped. It only makes sense that Kira manipulated this to happen, and that it was to get Mikami to work for him again."

"Didn't Mikami turn against Light in the warehouse?" Near inquired.

"Yes, that's true… but anything can happen, Near."

"That is true," Near conceded.

"Mello knows I'm back on the case," L told him.

"…I see…. How did he react?"

"I don't know; I just had Natalie tell Sierra to relay the message. I wasn't there."

"Ah. Well, thank you for the update."

"You're welcome. Goodbye, Near."

"Goodbye." And they disconnected.

* * *

_Oh, Ryuk, you fool,_ I thought with a satisfied smile as I slipped his Death Note out of his Death Note holder. He'd said we wouldn't get his new notebook back, but all I had to do was steal it in the night again. I just needed to wait a while to ensure he stopped thinking about it. Now, we'd have a fourth Note. And we'd figured out a loophole, too, that may allow Misa to actually own her notebook rather than just borrow it….

I – we – slept well, and I awoke to a nice, happy, Sunday morning. I savored the moment of just lying there comfortably as our minds organized themselves. Then, I swung my feet over the edge of the bed as I sat up. "Hey," greeted Ryuk. "Uh, did you steal my Death Note again…?"

I smiled and didn't respond, getting to my feet. Out into the hallway my feet led me; I noticed Sam's door was closed. Still sleeping. Anna was likely already up…. "What an odd Bonding; between one who never sleeps and one who sleeps in," I mused to myself as I made my way down the stairs. You know, I actually liked Sam's term for the mind sync better than the original: the Bond. It was more accurate than 'mind synchronization,' I thought. It was true that our minds were pretty damn near synced, but they weren't completely; there were still some individual opinions. Besides, although it was in actuality a _mind sync_, it was also more than that. It was… a _Bond _between the two, really. The word fit well….

I ignored Ryuk's nagging – my silence convinced him I had, in fact, stolen his Note – and gave Anna a morning greeting as I began breakfast. It was a Sunday, and thus Light would be coming over later. Later; for dinner, like he always did. At that point I would give him the extra Note I'd stolen from dear Ryuk. And tomorrow, we would convince Ryuk of our loophole's credibility, and Misa would be free to own the Note. Light would convince her not to get the Eyes again…. The idiot, if she kept doing that, she'd find herself dead in no time. None of us wanted that.

In any case, the day passed well.

* * *

Beyond Birthday lay in his bed, his eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling through the dark. It was lights out in Atascadero State Hospital; far past it, actually – in the middle of the night. It was time. Thousands of miles away, Sophia was setting the knife on the counter. Perfect…. Beyond took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. He could hear the breathing of the many others in this psychiatric hospital; maybe a few were awake, but the majority was sleeping.

He took another deep breath as he and Sophia thought together, and there was an explosion of light, then heat – an inferno that began again whenever they went to the In-Between. That place between my world and the Death Note world. And the two of them burned like that; burned until they died. But even as they died, they remained fully aware of the agony that lasted forever….

But then it ended, and they'd switched places. B was in Japan, and Sophia was in LA, stuck in a mental institution. B staggered to his feet, not knowing the exact time in LA and thus having to act quickly – it was never possible to determine how much time had passed while in the In-Between. He'd prepared for this, but dying was something that couldn't be gotten over easily. So, he grabbed the knife from the counter on unsteady feet and swiftly stabbed himself in the side. After dying, the pain was nothing, but his breathing was shaky after all of it…. He took it again and, without hesitation, sliced his chest. It wasn't deep enough to kill, but these were relatively good wounds to place on Sophia to create the illusion she'd been forced to stay at Atascadero in his place.

He stood there silently for a moment, watching the blood pool on the tiled floor of the kitchen. Breathing deeply, he walked slowly over to the sink to grab a towel. He used this to wipe off the knife. Then, knowing well enough not to stain the carpet, he sat down there in the kitchen of the hotel room to wait.

* * *

It was early dawn, not enough light to necessarily see by. But Nick Geraldy had heard a sort of seeping sound just earlier. Now he heard whimpering. He looked to the bed next to him; Beyond's area. He saw a small, curled up figure. Nick propped himself up on his elbow and squinted at the figure. "_Beyond?_" he asked in a strained whisper. "You okay?"

Without a response, he sat up and leaned over to flip on the light. "Oh, God," he breathed at the sight of a small girl no more than nine, dark brown hair falling over her hunched shoulders and deep brown eyes wide. The sheets were stained red; her shirt was bloody in two major places. The others in the large room were beginning to stir in their beds.

One, the pale one named Damien Connors, was sitting up already and staring with wide eyes. He breathed deeply. The girl looked up at him.

The moment Henry Morgan awoke and saw the girl, he released a cry and scrambled out of bed. "I get it now!" he said in a panicked voice. "Beyond was after us all along! Where'd he go?! We need to find him before he murders us all! _This is just a warning_!"

By this time, many were waking to the scene. Nick got to his feet; he needed to tell the employees what had happened…. Mr. Myers; a stiff, stone-faced, and graying man as well as one of the upper-ranked employees; opened the door and looked in. "What is going on here?" he asked in his low, slightly intimidating voice.

Damien tittered like a nervous child.

"Good God," Mr. Myers exclaimed the moment he saw the girl, taking long strides towards her. "How did this happen?" he demanded, sounding calm but firm.

Inwardly, Sophia smiled.

* * *

"This is great!" Misa exclaimed. "Now Misa can—"

"Wait," Ryuk interrupted, looking at Light. "I can't haunt more than three people. I'm haunting you, Natalie, and Sierra. I can't haunt Misa too."

"Well, think of it this way," said Light with a confident smirk. "Natalie and I are at the final stage of the mind sync; therefore, depending on the way you look at things, we can be considered the same person."

"How does _that _work?" Misa asked, frowning deeply.

"Misa," Light assured her, "I mean our thoughts are generally the same, and each individual subconscious of ours merges occasionally. That's what the Bond does."

"Okay…."

"Well… I guess it might work…." Ryuk thought a moment. "Eh, who cares anyway? Go ahead."

"Right then," said Misa. "Well, I'm really happy now! Now Misa can be a help again; she can get the Eyes!"

"No, Misa," Light interjected calmly. "I don't want you to get the Shinigami Eyes again."

"Why _not_?" Misa demanded. "Misa just wants to help!"

"You've halved your life far too many times, Misa. Don't you get that I don't want you to die anytime soon?"

She looked up at him, her eyes sparkling, and hugged him. "Oh, Light," she breathed. "Thank you for caring."

"You don't need to thank me," Light replied. "So, please, Misa, don't do the eye deal. If you want to please me, don't shorten your life so much."

"Okay, Light, Misa can do that," she practically purred.

* * *

Sierra sat on a platform high above the ground, curled up as she doodled in her diary-disguised Death Note. (Hey, it killed with names, not doodles.) In this current lair, there were firm boards lining the rafters above, serving as a private little room that looked out over the broken-down home. It was perfectly safe, so long as she didn't roll off the edge in the night. Beside her was a simple blanket that served as her bed, and her bag, which contained all the belongings she had with her. A black and white striped, long-sleeved shirt that was a tad too big clothed her, along with typical jeans. As she outlined the eyes of a cat she'd drawn, she heard the creaking sound made when someone was on their way up.

She looked up to see Matt leaning under a rafter to enter, then straightening up with his hand on the back of his neck as he looked around the room, as if searching. Oh, and he was shirtless. "Hey, Sierra, have you seen my…?" His gaze, hidden behind his goggles, rested on her. "…Shirt," he finished dully.

Sierra blinked at him.

"Why are you wearing my shirt? It's my last clean one."

Sierra looked down at the shirt she was wearing, then back up at him. "I ran out of clean shirts."

"Couldn't you take something of Mello's?"

Sierra shrugged. "He'd kill me. You won't."

He sighed, muttering something under his breath. "Just wear something else. I'll go downstairs, and you can change. Give my shirt back when you're done."

She looked at him blankly. "No," she replied simply.

"I'll take my shirt _off _you if I have to. No… I'll get _Mello_ to do it."

Sierra scowled, her cheeks warming ever so slightly. "That's just _mean_." She huffed, and Matt chuckled. "Now you're definitely not getting your shirt back." She crossed her arms. "Meanie poop."

"Would you rather me walk around shirtless all day?"

"Well, no, not really. It's kinda creepy."

"Then can I have my shirt back?"

"…No."

He frowned.

"How about this," Sierra suggested, her expression brightening. "You can have your shirt back if _you_ give me your goggles!"

"What?" he asked, his hand absently going up to adjust the orange-tinted headwear. "No!"

"Then no shirt for you."

"Look, can't I just have my shirt back?"

"What's the magic word?" Sierra responded, her lips quirking into a smile.

"Please," he answered flatly. "Please, can I have my shirt back?"

"Of course!" she squeaked. "Now go away so I can get it off!"

"Got it." He walked away, giving a little wave as he left.

Sierra heard him make his way down to ground level, and shuffled through her clothes as he walked away. She found a shirt that was relatively clean, and heard Mello below. "Matt, why aren't you wearing a shirt?" he asked, without much inflection.

Sierra smiled to herself, pleasantly amused.

* * *

**_Fun Fact_: The 'Sierra wearing Matt's shirt' scene was suggested by Sierra herself. :3 Sierra actually used to always steal the clothes of her brothers, so... xD**

**Alright, expect the extra chapter tomorrow~ ...Which is also the day of my first exam. Ahaha... Wish me luck.**

**Review? For shirtless Matt?**


	3. Chapter 3

_**BB**_**:** Uh... No creeping out the reviewers, BB.  
Evidently you, Penguin, and jedigrant2000 know each other.  
That's what I have gotten out of this. xD

_**The Reading Kind**_**: **I shall let you know you think of her as such! c: Haha, I'm sure your reaction wouldn't seem conspicuous at all... See, Sierra's just awesome like that. There's more to her than the hyper fangirl-ish outer layer, you see~ And yes, technically, Natalie does not currently know half of what is going on, haha.  
*cries out of happiness* I fixed your hatred of Light? I've gotten rid of such horrible feelings? This is a beautiful thing. Ohh, I am so happy. So glad I have done such beautiful wonders.  
And I'm also helping at remember days. That's just amazing. xD You know, having to update has helped me figure out days too, so... Whee~ The test was...testy, and I hope I did well. =w= And I shall tell Sierra that you say so!

_**Reader**_**: **...That friend is amazing. xD I'm keeping that quote, mhm. I'mma keep it. I shall tell dear Sierra that you wish her happy birthday, as well. C:

_**Amy**_**: **Not keen on BB, eh? Well... Parts of this story won't be so likeable, then, I'm sad to say. Happy you enjoyed the 'Sierra stealing Matt's shirt' scene, though~

_**Random**_**: **Huzzah!

**Enjoy the extra chapter, dear readers~**

* * *

I came home from a bit of grocery shopping to find Anna questioning Sam persistently on something or other. "Hi, guys," I greeted with a small wave. Nothing in particular was on my mind. Problems. Worries. Things all humans tend to dwell on.

"Hey," Sam returned, not so much as glancing in my direction. She did, at least, shift her position, but that may have been because the effects of the Bond were getting to her. The last time she'd seen L was Saturday. It was Tuesday.

"Yeah, hi," Anna agreed distractedly. "Sam, you reached the final step, right?" she asked her, as I headed to the kitchen to put away the groceries. I noticed a sense of annoyance to her tone, telling me she'd been at it for longer than I'd been here.

"Yes," Sam confirmed.

"So then, you know L's past now."

My ears perked up at the prospect. She _would _know now, wouldn't she? And there was always the part of me that loved learning people's stories, whether I was a part of Light or not.

"That is correct," Sam responded, shifting again.

"So, can you _tell _me L's past?" Anna inquired, leaning towards Sam in anticipation.

"I don't think I'm obliged to do so," she answered dully, forcing herself to keep still. "It's not my past to tell. Of me, I have a biological father I never knew and an irksome stepfather I never really liked. L's past is something of a tale, far more… _troubled _than my own. I have no right to tell it. He doesn't want to tell, and therefore I don't feel the need to share it with you."

Anna huffed, obviously disappointed. I began making my way back into the living room to sit on the couch beside Anna. I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't disappointed myself. "Can you give little things? Good pieces, maybe?"

Sam looked to the ceiling, rubbing the back of her head somewhat restlessly. I was surprised when she actually began to tell us something. "…L was a smart kid, and his mind developed quickly. His father told him that when he was only an infant – a toddler, even – his wide grey eyes would be always open, taking in the world around him. At only a year old, he understood things, even though he didn't speak. There was a day, in the spring, when L found a robin's egg on the ground and held it gently. He knew it belonged in a nest, and he knew that a baby bird was inside. But he dropped it, being only one, and he cried so hard because he knew he'd just killed a baby bird…." Her mouth quirked into a smile. "His mother rushed toward him to see what was wrong, and it took a minute or so to figure out he was crying because of the bird, not because he was hurt."

Anna blinked. "L cried?"

Sam looked at her blankly.

"Of course he cried," I told Anna. "Children always cry, even if they grow up to be emotionless and stoic." I smiled myself. "Light had a cat when he was little. He cried when he died."

"Aw!" Anna cried. There was a pause, and she furrowed her brow. "Is it fun at the final part of the mind sync?"

Sam and I glanced at one another, then looked back at Anna. "It depends on how you look at it…," I said.

"I can assure you it's not all that creepy once you're there," Sam added.

I smirked. "Told you so, Sam."

"You shut up, Natalie," she muttered.

"Tell me another L story!" Anna implored, looking hopefully up at Sam.

Sam blinked down at her. "Uh… no."

"Please?"

"Maybe."

I chuckled. "Humor us, will you?" I asked.

Sam frowned at me. Then looked up and scowled. "…I hate his uncle…."

"Why?" Anna asked confusedly, cocking her head to the side.

Sam shook her head. "Axbridge. You know he lived in Axbridge. Every September, there was a Blackberry Festival." The ghost of an almost nostalgic smile flickered in her features. "His dad took him there every year."

"A festival?" asked Anna. "Was there rides?"

Sam nodded, then looked at Anna from that far off place she'd been gazing at before. "There were rides in the town square, and floats, and parades, and queens and princesses."

"How cool!" Anna exclaimed.

Sam smiled wistfully. "Yes. He'd go every year; his dad would take him every time, letting him ride on his shoulders; like a piggyback ride. And L would actually smile. L would laugh. L would be almost like a normal child. No matter what, his dad would take him…." Her expression darkened, and she shook her head. "Well, of course he couldn't take him anywhere after he died, but you know what I mean."

I nodded. "Of course." The conversation fell to a buzz of white noise as I concentrated upon another point of view.

_A knock on the door, a waiting at the doorstep for the blond, cheerful girl; the bubbly pop idol; the well-known and well-loved model. Misa opened the door and greeted Light brightly. "Hello!" she beamed._

"_Hi," Light responded, holding up a bag. It felt like it was I who was holding it; it was I who was speaking. "I brought you some food. Just some small things I know you like."_

_Misa giggled happily. "Care to have dinner with me, Light?" she asked sweetly, already pulling gently on his arm._

"_Of course; I was hoping to," he answered, smiling kindly. He shut the door behind him. "I'm glad you're not giving more of your life away, Misa. I really don't want you to die so soon…."_

_Misa grinned like a child. "Light, are you kidding? My life doesn't matter, especially not compared to yours!"_

_Light froze, his movements slowing to a stop. "That doesn't change the fact, Misa, that I don't want you to die anytime soon."_

"_Misa's glad you care, but Light knows Misa can be stubborn. She just wants to make Light happy!"_

_Light stared at her, already suspecting. "Misa…."_

"_Yup!" Misa confirmed brightly, winking. "Misa got the Eyes!" she sang._

I felt a rush of hot anger, but settled for closing my eyes in slight irritation. _Misa, you idiot, _my thoughts spat. _You're _trying _to get yourself killed, aren't you?_ I opened my eyes, glaring off into nothing in particular. _How much time do you have left now? You say you want to help, but what help can you be if you're dead?_ I heaved a sigh.

"Is something wrong, Natalie?" asked Sam, looking at me curiously.

"Misa's being annoying," I shrugged. It wasn't entirely a lie.

"She being clingy?" Anna asked.

My mouth twitched. "I guess you could say that. But really, Misa's just being… Misa."

"You probably don't like her now, huh?" Anna grinned. Sam released a bark of laughter, and some of the original Sam flowed back into her features. It made things seem homier.

Nevertheless, I frowned at Anna. "It's not that I don't _like _her, Anna," I informed her.

"Well, she _is _naturally annoying," Sam conceded. "I never liked her. Although, she's probably one of my favorite girl characters from Death Note. But then, there aren't very many girls…." Sam squinted thoughtfully. "Should I still be calling them characters? They're real people now…. They've _been _real people…."

"Who's your _favorite _girl character, then?" Anna inquired.

Sam snapped out of her thoughts. "Oh. My favorite girl character is Naomi. Naomi Misora. She was epic." Sam frowned. "Too bad Light killed her off early. Bastard."

My eyebrows rose. "Light can hear you, you know."

She smiled sweetly. "I know."

Anna giggled. "Light isn't mean now, though, remember?" she pointed out.

Sam snorted. "I beg to differ."

I gazed at Sam levelly. "Right," I said. "Because he's _such _a bastard right now. What did he do wrong this time?"

A light innocence softened Sam's features as she relaxed and leaned back casually. "Oh, nothing," she said. "He's just him."

"Well, you're mean, Sam," Anna frowned.

I chuckled, taking on the same casual, care-free, and joking air Sam had. "I guess you're the mean one then, Sam." _She's getting as much a habit of lying as L. It should only be expected…._

She laughed. "Yes, I'm incredibly evil. I get people to play the Pocky Game, and I force awkwardness upon perfectly normal moments. I'm so cruel!"

"Playing with Matsuda wasn't so bad," Anna shrugged.

"You really should have played with Near," Sam grinned.

Anna glowered at her. "_No_."

Sam giggled again. "Natalie had to play with her Light, didn't she?"

I furrowed my brow. "_My _Light? Since when was he _my _Light?"

"I thought that was established the moment he kissed you," Sam answered, nonchalantly waving her hand in a careless gesture.

I sighed heavily. "You played the Pocky Game with your L, too, though, didn't you?"

Sam stopped laughing. "_My L_?" she repeated flatly.

Anna was giggling hysterically at our back-and-forth banter at this point.

"Oh, I thought we established L was yours the moment you kissed," I smiled lazily, shooting her comment right back at her.

Sam sputtered. "Fine – I was wrong. Technically, Light's not yours. You're his. He kissed _you, _didn't he? He started it, he keeps you like he would a treasure! And looking closely, you can tell he's the more dominant mind in the Bond."

I frowned. "How sweet," I taunted, my mouth twisting into a smile, "you and L have each _other_." I clasped my hands together. "Your love is so beautiful; like a summer rose. Destiny, I say!"

Sam cocked an eyebrow, but she didn't fool me. Her cheeks were turning red. I inwardly smiled. I had the amazing ability to feel incredibly warm, but not appear to blush. This conversation was all a game to see which inner fangirl would die first. Each of us would draw from the calmness of the one we were Bonded to, but eventually one of the inner fangirls would snap, knowing that the very one they fangirled over knew every piece of what they said.

"A _summer rose_?" Sam repeated, then scoffed. "You're starting to sound cliché, Natalie. Quit it now, before this becomes some sort of messed-up love story. And as for the _'destiny'_ part, that's hardly true. If anyone, that would be you and Light." She held her hands up. "You go together like _this_." She folded her hands together, like she was pleading.

I felt myself flush. Sam didn't seem to notice any difference in my facial complexion, so I trusted my amazing inner anti-blush mechanism was working. "What the hell do you mean by _that?_" I asked, my eyebrows raised.

"Like this," she repeated, then did the motion again. "You fit perfectly together. Like, the perfect match!"

I released a bark of laughter. "Not really." I smiled, but it was forced. I was beginning to die on the inside, but this fangirl war wasn't over yet, no sir. "Light was the one who went out with many a woman, who's skilled in this sort of thing. He could easily get what he wants if he wanted it. I wouldn't be surprised if I were just another girl to him, honestly."

"Oh, Natalie, you _know _he's not," Sam grinned childishly. "You have the _Bond_."

I held up a finger to show I wasn't finished. "My point is, you've made the greater accomplishment. Light is open to any relationship. L had no experience with girls whatsoever. You saved him from being forever alone, and you utterly twisted his character if you managed to get him to fall for you. He must really love you if you got _him_, of _all people, _to _kiss you_."

Sam flushed. "…Oh…."

I was silently glad I knew how to hide any fangirlisms I had, while I could see clearly when she was near her limit. "Besides, you've been pretty much _living _together for awhile now. You're practically _married_!"

Sam went a deep red. "We're obviously not married!" she snapped. "We work together, and that's all." She smiled at me teasingly, quirking an eyebrow. "If anyone were to get married, it'd be you and _Light_. Mello and Near and L don't seem like the type to marry; with Light it's perfectly reasonable!" She giggled happily, the blush slowly draining from her cheeks as she swerved the attention back to me. "It's so _cute!_"

I gazed at her dully, ignoring the heat in my own cheeks. Anna seemed to be enjoying herself, just watching us. "_Cute?_" I repeated. "What's _'cute_?'"

"You and Light!" she squeaked happily.

"How the _hell _is that _cute?!_" I protested. "It's… it's…."

"_Beautiful_," Sam beamed, making an invisible rainbow with her hands.

My eye twitched. "_No._"

"Well, I mean, I can see it now!" she exclaimed, looking excitedly into space as she constructed her little fantasy. "You'd get married, and he'd either move in here or you'd move out of the house, and you'd have children, and—"

"Dear _lord_, Sam, you're creeping the hell out of me," I grumbled.

She laughed.

"Come now," I teased, "whatever happened to the creepy child you said you'd have with L? You'd move to France together, and have that odd child that can see right through you."

"_What?_" Anna asked, obviously amused. And confused. She wasn't there when we had that conversation….

Sam laughed harder. "Yes," she replied, her voice incredibly sarcastic, "because we all know L would settle down and get married to me!"

"Yep!" Anna grinned, no hint of sarcasm in her tone.

"Now, let's be serious," Sam said calmly, cocking an eyebrow. "Let's try juggling some numbers, then. How many times have you and Light kissed?"

"Does the Pocky Game count?" inquired Anna.

"Yes," Sam smiled, her eyes dancing. She thought she'd won, then.

"I'll assume you mean actual kisses, then," I said, feigning a sense of calm contemplativeness, like I was actually taking this seriously. "I'd say… four times, including the Pocky Game. What—?"

"Wait," Anna interrupted. "Did you count the pecks on the lips he gives you sometimes when he leaves?"

I frowned deeply. "I didn't count those. If anything, they should count as half."

"They should count!" Sam snapped.

"As _half_," I repeated. "That brings it to five."

"Count them as whole," Sam persisted.

I eyed her. "Six."

"Yes!" Anna cheered.

"What about you?" I asked Sam, leaning casually toward her.

She thought a moment. "Four," she said.

"Including the Pocky Game?" Anna asked.

Sam pursed her lips. "…Six."

"Tie!" Anna cried, raising her arm. She paused. "…What are we competing on, anyway?"

Both of us looked at Anna, glanced at each other, and grinned as we looked back at her. "So, Anna…" I asked nonchalantly, "…how about you and Near?"

"Don't lie," Sam smirked.

Anna scowled, glowering at the both of us. We were so cruel. Ha.

* * *

B, of course, had to travel back to LA from Japan to pick up his supposedly missing child. It wasn't hard to come up with a good disguise; he was well-practiced with disguises, after all. This was obvious. He and Sophia put on a show of being reunited, and finally the effects of the Bond lessened as they made physical contact at last. _What do you know_, he thought drily, _my catatonic schizophrenia is cured._ They stayed in LA one night – on the twenty-fourth – and they soon got on a plane back to Japan. Their newest destination. The next area for the next case, the next challenge, the next plot. He found himself chuckling darkly as he walked into their hotel room. He was looking forward to this….

"Third time's the charm," he remarked, smiling bitterly.

* * *

_**Fun Fact**_**: ****I think I got the idea for L dropping the robin's egg from my own memory of when I was three and that happened... Hm. I only just realized this now, actually.**

**Review? For snippets of L's past? :3**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Random**_**:** Well, I'm glad I made L's childhood seem cute, then. :3 Unfortunately...his actual past as a whole isn't so adorable... I'm rather glad I added that bird bit, though, even though it was on a whim and I still don't know exactly where I got the idea for it...haha. Lovely that you can't hate Natalie... Yay; she's special~ And even your dislike for Kira/Light is alleviating, even if only slightly?  
...Yay.

_**BB**_**: **Oh, but of course, BB! I do my best to address every one of my reviewers. A new hobby, eh? What was the first, might I ask?  
Gymnastics, huh? I cannot do that sort of thing for the life of me. I don't doubt that you could, however, B. It's quite alright, and I accept your apology. In all honesty, this is starting to rather amuse me.  
...Come over soon? As in, here? YIn that case, you shall be a welcome guest, BB!

_**The Reading Kind**_**: **Yay... We're adorable children. ;v; ...Aw! You're pretty adorable as a child yourself! Wahh...  
I got you to giggle? Yayy... c: I like making people smile. Though I suppose it _would _be pretty weird if you were Anna at that point. xD  
Now that the test's over, I'm not worrying so much about it anymore, actually, haha. I'm just glad it's over with. All the other exams coming up don't worry me so much... =w=

**There'll be (another) double update this week! Why? I'm going camping this weekend. .u. Plus, I like to think that L's mother's birthday is on May twenty-third, which is tomorrow. Therefore... another double update!**

**Wow. Double updates galore, eh?~**

**Well, anyway, enjoy the chapter~**

* * *

Sierra wandered into the main room late that Wednesday night, planning on snatching a chocolate bar to satisfy the hunger gnawing at her. It was about three in the morning (technically it was Thursday), so it was only to be expected that staying up that late writing names would throw off her eating schedule and make her hungry at the wrong times. Knowing how things usually went, she wouldn't be very hungry in the morning….

As she walked into the main room – her current personal space was a little room beneath broken-down staircase that she insisted upon having – she noticed that Matt sat upon the couch, still playing his video games, as always. There was another couch, bigger than the one Matt was on, but it didn't seem to have anyone occupying it at first glance. "Hi, Matt," Sierra greeted, not bothering to lower her voice. She didn't see Mello anywhere anyhow.

He looked up, pausing his game. "Would you be quiet?" he replied in a low voice. "Mello's actually _sleeping _right now, and I think I know well enough not to wake him."

Sierra covered her mouth. "Sorry," she whispered, then tilted her head to the side. "What, did you wake him up before?" she inquired, amused at the idea.

Matt made somewhat of a grimace. "Yeah. Back at Wammy's."

She stifled a giggle with her hand, then looked to the larger couch again. On closer inspection, there was a Mello lying there beneath the covers. An idea occurred to her. "_Cloud Nine!_" she squeaked, trying to muffle the noise with her hand.

Matt frowned, setting his game down. He figured Sierra would be making conversation for awhile. "Cloud Nine?" he repeated, still using a hushed tone. "You mean that game kids play… the one where one is sleeping, and—?"

"And one massages the sleeping one's temples, and asks them questions," Sierra said softly yet excitedly. "And they answer truthfully, no matter what, because it's their subconscious answering."

"I somehow doubt that would work on Mello," Matt replied doubtfully, eyeing the sleeping chocoholic. "…Or anyone, actually."

Sierra deflated. "Aw…. Please?"

"And if he wakes up?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Then… then…." She thought a moment. "…Then I'll stuff chocolate in his mouth and run," she said matter-of-factly.

He gazed at her with a blank expression, then sighed, getting to his feet. "Get the chocolate." Sierra squeaked in joy. "Just remember that the blame's going on you if he wakes up."

She nodded vigorously. "Got it!" she yelped, then ran off.

"Remember to be _quiet_, too!" he hissed, then shook his head as a hasty, "_Sorry!_" was called back in a strained whisper. Sierra came back with the chocolate to find Matt sitting cross-legged on the arm of the couch. "Alright…," said Matt. "How long do I rub his temples?"

Sierra squinted up at the ceiling. "A minute, I think."

"You think, huh?" he repeated, leaning over to smother his cigarette in the ashtray. He took a deep breath, letting it out in something like a sigh.

"You know, you're gonna get lung cancer," she frowned. "You should stop smoking."

He shrugged, then put his hands before him to begin rubbing Mello's temples. "This is just weird," he muttered.

The moment Matt's gloved hands touched Mello's head, Mello's eyes opened. He looked up at his red-haired friend irritably. "What the _hell _are you doing?" he asked dully.

"You seemed tense," Matt answered smoothly. "I thought you needed a massage."

Mello rolled his eyes, then spotted Sierra. He eyed her suspiciously, sitting up.

"We wanted to play Cloud Nine," Sierra explained simply, staring at Mello.

Mello frowned deeply. "You idiots know I'm a light sleeper, right?"

"I did," said Matt. "I was just humoring her."

Mello scowled, getting to his feet. "So much for getting some sleep," he muttered.

* * *

"Where're you going?" Anna asked Sam as she wandered towards the door.

Sam frowned, then looked back at her. "I'm just going on a walk," she told her. "The Bond's being annoying."

"Well, I'm just glad I'm not the one at the final step," Anna said with a hint of indignation. "I don't really _want _to reach that."

Sam smiled vaguely and sighed. "Of course you don't. No one does, but the moment you get there, you can't imagine life any other way."

Anna made a face.

Sam laughed. "I'll be back soon," she called, then made her way out the door.

Through the streets of Tokyo she wandered, not paying much attention to what or who was around her. She twitched occasionally, though, of course, and she found herself jumping in surprise at a car horn honking unexpectedly. She scowled at the latter. "Stupid Bond," she muttered. Not that she wouldn't have jumped without the Bond, anyway…. She continued to restlessly walk among Tokyo's pedestrians, and time passed. She didn't care how long she was out; it didn't really matter. If L needed her, she'd know right away anyway.

Being the twitchy way she was – damn that stupid Bond – she jumped again when a hand went to her shoulder. "Oh, I'm sorry," said the man behind her. His voice was bright; slightly higher, like Matsuda's. "I didn't mean to frighten you."

"No, it's fine," Sam replied, trying to look back at the pedestrian visitor. He laughed lightly, stepping just out of range of her vision. "Uh…."

"Well, I noticed you were restless today, fellow citizen." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders like a playful old friend, still managing to stay in her peripheral vision, ducking behind her whenever she tried to look.

"Well, yeah," Sam agreed, suspicion building.

"What is it, hmm?" he asked. He had a sort of teasing air about him. When he next spoke, his voice was soft and low, right near her ear. She could feel his breath, warm against her skin. "_Catatonic schizophrenia, _right?" he murmured. She could hear the smile in his tone. "People like us should stick together."

The hand left her shoulder, and Sam wheeled around to face the man. By the time she looked, though, he was gone.

Sam cursed under her breath, and continued on with the day with a bit more caution than before. _BB's back._

* * *

L stood abruptly the moment the man – possibly B – whispered the words _catatonic schizophrenia _in Sam's ear. He could hear it just as well as if he were the one wandering the streets. Ha, like he'd ever walk the streets on a whim…. He wasn't one for crowds. He never was.

Leaving his half-eaten piece of cake and his scarcely touched cup of tea behind, he walked towards the computer at a brisk pace. He was already typing, searching, before he even crouched on his chair. No, not the Japanese database, he needed the American…. California. Atascadero State Hospital.

There was nothing.

L bit his thumbnail, glaring at the screen. No records of any sort of escape. No records of Beyond Birthday's second breakout. Damn Kira, and damn B. There were two possibilities here. No… three. One, that had not been B that had spoken to Samantha. It was possible, but it most certainly wasn't very likely. This theory was discarded quickly. Two, B had deleted the records. This was also possible; he had the potential to do it. Third and last was on the point that Atascadero State Hospital was under a lot of pressure from the public, under Kira's influence. Atascadero saved criminal's lives, and helped them. It gave them a chance. Many believed that went against Kira, who judged criminals as the evil that plagued the world. With this pressure from the public, it was possible, too, that the hospital had not disclosed the information that Beyond had escaped. Atascadero needed to keep its reputation up; else it could be shut down. However… L, as L, was able to access information that hadn't even been disclosed to the public. And unless Atascadero, a helper of the lost criminals in need of help, a lamppost to stand against the darkness of Kira's reign, had suddenly turned against L and blocked him somehow, L would know of B's escape.

Therefore, B had deleted the file.

B had access to these things, too.

How? Hacking? That was most probable. L and Sam knew for a fact that B was not the hacker of Wammy's House – that would be Matt and Chip (Chip was another child of Wammy's) – but that wasn't to say he couldn't still hack. B was known to analyze things with a high level of calm detachment, and he picked up new things quickly. Assuming B and Sophia reached the final stage of the Bond right before he was first imprisoned on August twenty-second, 2002, eight years ago, then he had plenty of time for Sophia to learn, and thus for B to learn.

Something like a smirk upturned the corner of L's mouth. _B, _he thought, _you've certainly gotten better._ He chuckled monotonously. _But so have I._

Challenge accepted.

His fingers danced across the keys as he switched to public news. It was much harder to erase public records, so there had to be something B had left behind. The most likely way he had escaped was by using the same method as before: using the In-Between to switch places with Sophia. He could have just broken out, but Atascadero took pride in its security… so as he most likely switched with Sophia, there had to have been some sort of story about a girl being found. Reunited. Something like that. The detective made it a point in his mind to get both Sophia and B caught this time. L's mouth twitched in amusement. Right now, this was nothing but a game. B hadn't done anything yet. This was only a small puzzle to put together before the real competition began. Nothing more than an appetizer to come before the main course.

Through the main news L hunted for any signs of B. Was he out, or was he not? Well, of course he was, but he needed the proof. Always, there was proof. Evidence. He had to admit, that was one of the irksome pieces of this world's system of law. The _most_ irksome. But a challenge was always taken graciously, for L always did love a challenge….

Most of the news was meaningless – the story of a child miraculously surviving a car accident; a stabbing in Santa Barbara; criminals, criminals, and more criminals for Kira to kill; that sort of thing – but the thing he was looking for could not escape L's watchful eyes. A newspaper article, that was all. It wasn't big news, but it grabbed L's attention immediately because he knew what he was looking for. The hopeful story of the reuniting of a son and a daughter. The man's name was Brian Bachman, his daughter was Selena Bachman. There was a small picture of them hugging. The girl was in bandages, but the man was not. Brian was almost unrecognizable, he looked sallow and his eyes looked far too sunken for it to be B. But it could only be B. Of course it was B. And Selena was, of course, Sophia. L noticed, too, that there was a slight stiffness in the man's stature, as if he were also hurt. The same injuries the girl had, but hidden.

"Well, this confirms it," L said to himself, then tapped a few keys to contact Atascadero State Hospital. His voice would not be altered, and if the phone had caller ID, then it would be a private, untraceable number that L called from.

"Atascadero State Hospital," came a low, gravelly voice. "How may I help you?"

L smiled slightly. He remembered him already; an old, strong-willed, calculating man by the name of Mr. Myers. He pressed the button that activated his microphone, switching frames of mind to a slightly more casual voice for conversation. "Hello," greeted L. "This is Leonard; Leonard DeNero. Is this Mr. Myers?"

"Yes, this is Mr. Myers."

"You may remember me;" said L, "I came to visit a friend of mine about a month back. Beyond Birthday, diagnosed with catatonic schizophrenia."

There was a pause. "…Yes," Mr. Myers said eventually, "I remember you. You came with your wife, didn't you? Mrs. DeNero; Samantha, correct?"

L frowned. _She was supposed to be my daughter, _he thought dully, scratching the back of his head. He decided to go along with it. It saved time. "Yes. I was just wondering how Beyond was doing in custody." He smiled slightly. "He's known to not stay in one place for very long; he's bound to be sick of the place eventually."

Another pause. "It is with utmost regret that I tell you that Mr. Birthday has escaped." He sounded like he didn't want to say this. Which only made sense, all things considered.

At first, L considered thanking him and hanging up, but he had the notion that would seem off. So, he continued. "He escaped?" he asked, carefully placing a sense of worry into his tone. He still did not change facial expression. "What do you mean, he escaped? What about Atascadero's reputation of an amazing security?"

"Don't misunderstand, Mr. DeNero," Mr. Myers answered in a low, somewhat cold voice. "Some fool on the outside helped him get out, I can assure you. It is a rare occurrence that I do believe will never happen again. Not with Kira in this world."

"I should hope not," L responded. "I assume the police are out to find him, then?"

"Of course."

"Alright…. Goodbye, Mr. Myers." L hung up before he could reply. "Hm," he said to himself. "I'm very blunt." He tilted his head slightly. "Oh well." He pressed a key, and soon a fancy W was floating in the middle of a white background.

"L," Roger greeted.

"Watari," L replied, "B is on the loose again. I'd like you to keep an eye out for any sort of killing, anywhere in the world, that could be him."

"…Of course," Roger answered.

"Actually," L corrected himself, "pay most attention to the Japan area. Then, if a big murder happens somewhere else, pay mind to that as well."

"Japan?" Roger repeated.

"Yes. Goodbye." And he disconnected. L turned to look back at his coffee table. "…And now I can finish my cake," he said, getting to his feet.

* * *

"Near," asked Anna, idly rolling a marble around on the floor, "when will we be able to do something other than wait?"

Near dropped a marble of his own into a tube, and it jumped out again with a pop, landing in another tube and continuing down. "We will stop waiting when it is time to take action."

"Well… yeah. I _knew _that. When will that time come?"

"It will come when it will come."

"Be more _specific_," Anna frowned.

Near looked at her a moment, and then back to his contraption. He put another marble in its opening. "I don't know," he told her.

Anna scowled. "That's no answer!" she snapped.

"Que sera sera, Anna. I cannot tell the future."

"What is that? Spanish?"

"Actually, it's not grammatically correct in any language."

She huffed, frustrated. _This isn't getting anywhere._

He smiled slightly. _You're right_, he thought. _It's not. I appreciate your perseverance._

"Poo you!" she said aloud.

Gevanni chuckled.

"Technically," said Near thoughtfully, "if it were correct in a language, or at the very least wasn't well-known, then wouldn't you have heard it in English with your special hearing?"

"That _is _true," Halle conceded.

Gevanni scratched the back of his head. "I still don't get how any of that is possible."

"Yeah, well, apparently it is," said Anna, crossing her arms. "So deal with it."

He raised his eyebrows. "Alright then, Anna."

"Exactly."

"She does have a point, though," he said. "We're not doing much."

"We are," Rester disagreed.

"Yeah, right," Anna responded, rolling her eyes.

"Well, you have to take into consideration the fact that L is back in the game," Halle came in.

"But wait," Gevanni frowned, furrowing his brow, "I thought that Near wanted to _surpass _L. Not let him do the work."

Near glared at him, looking up from a robot toy he'd begun to tinker with. "I never said anything about letting anyone '_do the work_,' Gevanni." He looked back down at his robot, toying with it again. "And that is true; I do want to surpass L. But I also want to succeed him. Think about it. If I am working _with _L on this case, and I try to surpass him, then this will only turn into the very battle Mello and I are inevitably destined to have. Right now, we need to work together. And until I figure out a way to get rid of every Kira at once, we will not carry out any sort of plan."

"How many Kiras _are _there, anyway?" asked Anna.

"If my deductions are correct," said Near, "right now… three, possibly four, depending upon if Misa Amane has been included once again."

"How are we supposed to prove all of them to be Kira at the same time?" Anna frowned.

"See?" said Near, looking at her. "I don't know yet. That is why we have to wait." He turned back to playing with his robot figure, and there was silence.

"…Well, feh," said Anna.

* * *

_**Fun Fact**_**: While I was editing that L scene, L's Theme came on. It was perfect.**

**Review? For marbles!**


	5. Chapter 5

_**Penguin**_**: **Don't worry about it~ It may not seem like it under the guise of the internet, but I myself am a weird person, so I enjoy weirdness! :D

_**BB**_**: **'Great Authoress,' eh? I'm...flattered.  
Oh, BB... Why am I not surprised, haha... Though sometimes just listening to a person and analyzing their behavior can teach you a lot about a person. And oh, goodness, I do _so _love humans~  
I do not consider you a monster, dear BB. I think of you as a human, and even a likeable one, at that. I understand your motives and such, and I actually rather like you.  
I never would have taken you as a karaoke singer. I'll be honest with that. Though, yes, I have heard of Blood On The Dance Floor. I personally don't like them all that much, but I do like the messages they have and the lyrics within the songs. I will admit to liking that; definitely. Real-life Sam actually really, _really _likes them.  
Who knew BB would be distracted by such a thing? Haha... I think perhaps I _could _do it... I just can't currently. If I tried something worthy of being called 'gymnastics' now... I'd probably snap my neck.  
I'll be sure to stock up; I promise. We shall most certainly be prepared for you, and it was nice speaking with you as well!

_**Random**_**: **Que sera sera is a saying that simply means "Whatever will be, will be." :) It originally came from a song, but I'm not going to bore you with origins and stuff like that. xD  
_Random_'s right, Gevanni. Arguing with the universe leads to nothing. Fight it, and it will strike you down. Yep.  
It's actually today that I think to be L's mother's birthday: May twenty-third. It's no particular reason, although... In my head, there is a full story behind L's past, and its details include even his mother's birthday. ...Which would be, in my head, today. Not any real reason, though, really. Just my mind. xD

_**The Reading Kind**_**: **Looking back, I'm kinda sad I didn't write from her view more often. I guess I just didn't really like Near... ...Yeah, that was probably why. Sorry, Near. xD I do feel bad for Sam, though. B's going to haunt that girl to his _death, _I swear. *shakes head* Poor, poor Samsam.  
That would be amazing; listening to L's theme while doing schoolwork. Oh yes.  
And don't worry. I think your review's fine, and I perfectly understand either way.  
Yeahh, BB be creepin'. It's funny you mention closets, considering I've actually heard _knocking _from the closet in my room. That's not normal. Though I suppose it _would _be interesting to have a character stalk you...  
An ant has scared you? Goodness, I feel bad. That would be terrible being that easily frightened... and... goodness; that poor ant! D:  
Yaaay! We can lack athletic ability _together_! :D

_**Reader**_**: **I'm wonderfully happy to have amused you, dear reader. C: Sorry I can't help with the strawberry jam cravings though...

_**Mysterious Guest**_**: **You never have to apologize for not reviewing, dear reader. And if this tale you tell is true, you have perfectly good reason not to...  
Goodness; that's terrible; all of it. But don't get too depressed... because I promise you things will get better eventually. They won't be the same, maybe, but it'll get better. I hate that feeling, going back to it over and over and over again only to think you're over it every time. I get like that a lot. Usually I sleep it off, but I have had a time where it just kept coming back. *shakes head* Terrible.  
My life is comparably nice. Not too much going on save for the stress that's starting to build for exams. But really, other than that... I'm doing alright.

**Enjoy**** your extra chapter~**

* * *

Sierra sat on the floor, staring at Mello from below like a cat waiting to pounce. Well, actually, she wasn't staring at Mello. She was staring at his chocolate. "…I'm hungry," she stated.

"I know," Mello replied, looking down at her. "That's why Matt's getting food."

"Can I have some chocolate?"

He snapped off a piece with his mouth, still looking at her without tilting his head downward. "No," he replied around the chocolate.

"Why not?"

"I'm using my supply sparingly," he said. "I don't want to run out."

"Yeah, that'd be horrible…," she said absently, still staring at his chocolate. "Can I _please _have some chocolate?"

"No."

"_Please?_" she repeated.

"No, Sierra."

She frowned, then slowly got to her feet… and snatched the chocolate from his hand before proceeding to run like hell.

"Hey!" he yelped, jumping to his feet. "Give me back my chocolate!"

"No!" she called back.

He glared after her. "_Give me the chocolate,_" he said firmly.

"_No-oh!_" she sang joyously, then took a bite. "Yay!" She knew that Mello was too '_mature_' to run after her anyway.

Mello took a step towards her, and she bolted farther back. Mello's mouth twitched, and he broke into a run.

Sierra glanced behind her, saw him running, and released a yelp of surprise, running faster. "_Nooo!_" she wailed. "I want the chocolate!"

"That was _my _chocolate in the first place!" Mello countered, still chasing her around the hideout. A smile was actually beginning to form on his lips….

"Sharing is caring!" Sierra snapped.

"Too bad!" he replied, and pounced on her, grabbing the chocolate out of her hand. "Aha!" he cried in triumph, and they both fell with a thud to the ground. The chocolate broke in two.

Sierra looked down at her knee; a sharp stone was digging into it. _I cut my—_

"I cut my chocolate!" Mello exclaimed, and almost started to laugh at the irony, but stopped short. "_Damn it, Sierra, you're screwing up my speech!_"

Sierra laughed. "Don't you mean you _broke _your chocolate?" she asked, still laughing.

"Of _course _that's what I mean!" he snapped. "Your thoughts messed me up!"

"Sorry," Sierra giggled. "…Um, can you get up now?"

"Yeah," he grumbled, getting to his feet and brushing himself off. Sierra did the same.

There was the sound of the opening of the door, and Matt entered with some bags – food. He came in to find Sierra and Mello picking themselves up from off the floor, disheveled and out of breath.

"…What'd I miss?" he asked blankly, staring at the two of them.

Sierra laughed again. "Mello cut his chocolate!" she grinned.

* * *

It was Sunday, then, and as always, Light came for dinner. What with the Kira case bringing Sam and L closer to home, both of them were also joining us. "I love it how no one questions why L is just not eating," Sam remarked amusedly, then forked some of her beef and put it in her mouth. "Mm, good."

"Glad you like it," I said.

"He's _L_," said Anna, in what I'll call her '_duh_' voice. "Of course he's not eating. He never eats food at the same time, and even when he does, he always eats sweets."

"That's true," Light agreed. "L, I sometimes worry you're going to end up getting sick because of that."

"Hm?" asked L, looking up at him. "Oh, no, I'll be fine."

"What are you, magical?" asked Anna, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yes," L responded seriously.

I laughed, and Light chuckled slightly. "I highly doubt you're _magical_, L," said Light.

"You're right, I'm not," L responded.

"He's just awesome," said Sam matter-of-factly, giving a curt nod.

"You have to admit, though," I pointed out, "that it's a little… worrisome that he doesn't sleep, either."

Sam shrugged. "I don't need to," L told me dully.

"You _have _slept before, though," said Anna.

"Yes, I have," he agreed. "Every human needs sleep."

"I mean the 'lay down on the bed and actually sleep' sleep," she frowned.

"Yes, I've done that too. Not so very often anymore, but it happens." He took a sip of his tea, then made a face. "Natalie, where is your sugar?"

I laughed. "Of course," I said, getting up to grab the jar of sugar from the counter. I placed the jar on the table as I sat down, and L scooped up spoonfuls of it and poured them into his cup. When he thought he'd put in enough, he just stirred, and the only sound was the clinking of the cup, the scrape of a fork; just the sounds of eating. Even after everything, Light and L still did not mix well, and there was a second layer of silence now that Sam and I were connected to the two.

"Well," said Light eventually, "it really is good to know you're back on the Kira case."

"Oh?" asked L, looking at Light intently.

Sam scoffed.

Light smiled lightly. "Of course, L. I want the new Kira to be caught, and in all honesty, I can't help but think back on the undeniable – albeit forgotten – truth, and feel a bit guilty."

"It truly is good to know you have your conscience back," L remarked, his tone flat.

Anna was watching the conversation quietly, her eyes going from one speaker to the next.

"Sometimes I wonder if it was ever gone to begin with, actually," Light replied, his eyes distant. "Didn't I believe I was a martyr of sorts?"

"Uh-huh," said Anna, her mouth full.

He shook his head. "Stupid…."

"Incredibly so," L agreed.

Light frowned ever so slightly.

"What was that case you were on about a month ago, anyway?" I asked. "It lasted awhile, didn't it? And didn't it jump around the globe?"

"It was a serial killer giving L a challenge, that's all," Sam shrugged.

"That's all?" Light repeated, raising his eyebrows. "It took a bit longer than the average case. It took at least a month, whereas the case in India took only a few days."

"Some serial killers are more intelligent than others," L responded. "And in any case, the killer was caught."

"Wasn't Sam nearly killed, though?" asked Anna.

"Twice," Sam answered dully.

"Jeez," Anna remarked.

"Here's a note: it's not fun being almost killed."

"I know the feeling," Light came in, smiling crookedly as his hand unconsciously went to the unseen scar on his left side.

"No shiz," Sam said. "I was there, at the warehouse, remember?"

"So was I," said Anna, raising her hand, "but I was outside the door…."

"All of us were there," I said dismissively. "That doesn't change the fact it happened."

"Don't forget the incident where Near died," Anna came in. "That was horrible, and people were shooting at Light then, too."

"Nice," Sam stated, cocking an eyebrow.

I squinted a little at the memory. "I could feel Light's pain at that point, so it wasn't all that pleasant…."

"Aw!" Anna cried. "I didn't know you—"

"It's fine," I said hastily. "You had reason to shoot him."

Light was nodding, his hand to the back of his head in an almost sheepish manner.

"It's a good thing you weren't at the final stage, then," L commented, then took another sip of his tea. He seemed satisfied with its sweetness this time.

I blinked. "That's true, too," I agreed. I remembered the pain I was in – the same pain Light felt. But it was different, because if I stretched, it wouldn't get worse. If I rubbed it, there would be no change. There wasn't a real wound there. It'd be much worse if both of us had the same injuries….

"It is pretty weird, though," Anna sighed. "This whole '_last stage of the mind sync_' you guys are at. It was more amusing when you weren't there yet."

"More amusing?" Sam repeated, taking a bite of food.

"Yeah," Anna confirmed. "That was back when you were still confused about it all, and L laughed randomly that one time, and you interacted with each other more. Plus… you're not as fun at the final step."

Sam and I looked at one another, then back to Anna.

"It's true that those at the final stage tend to not interact with the one they're Bonded to…," L agreed.

"It's because there's no point," said Sam. "They're in sync, literally. You know what the other's thinking, what they're about to say, their thought processes…."

"Conversation is really just exchanging information," L continued. "If you already have the information on either side, you simply tend to not speak to them."

"I agree," said Light. "But then, if one of us were to say something aloud that both of them know… or if they were to say something out of place and random merely for entertainment, it can still get a reaction."

"Uh, what do you mean?" Anna asked bemusedly.

"For example…," said L, then paused, thinking.

Sam's mouth twitched as she took a sip of her drink.

L stood up on his chair and struck a proud pose. "I am _Batman_," he said, in all seriousness.

Sam sputtered, choking.

L curled up to crouch on his chair again. "See? There we are. Interaction. She knew what I was about to do, but she still reacted."

Anna was staring at L, her mouth agape in shocked silence before she started laughing. Both Light and I were just staring. "That was an… interesting demonstration," Light commented.

I coughed, trying not to laugh along with Anna.

"Well, I doubt you would have done it," L pointed out.

"Probably not," Light conceded.

"Dananananananana—_L-Man!_" I sang, and gave into my laughter.

Anna giggled. "But another thing I miss," she said eventually, when my laughter had died down and Sam had stopped choking, "is that you guys never show it when you fangirl anymore."

Both Sam and I froze. "…What do you mean?" Sam asked slowly, setting down the forkful of food she'd been about to put in her mouth.

Light quirked an eyebrow at her. "When was the last time you pet L's hair?" I asked simply.

Sam frowned deeply. "I don't remember _ever _doing that."

"That would be my memory, and she was half-asleep," L said. "And yes, it hasn't happened since the final stage was reached."

"U-uh…," Sam said like she was trying to decide between being surprised or embarrassed.

"And you, Light, don't tease Aunt Natalie or be all… Light-y anymore," said Anna.

Light raised his eyebrows.

I facepalmed, turning red. Or at least, it felt like I was. "Maybe that happened for a reason," I grumbled.

Sam giggled happily. "What do you mean by 'Light-y,' Anna?" she grinned.

Anna, thankfully, waved her off and continued, "My point is, it's almost like you aren't the same people."

I lifted my face from my hand and looked over at her. "…I'm sorry," I said sincerely.

"Yeah," said Sam, scratching the back of her head, "well, I don't know how someone could prevent a little bit of change in character. I understand a lot of things now…."

"Although, Anna," said Light, "there's a bit of a change in L and I, too, isn't there?"

Anna tilted her head. "Yeah. Mostly in L, though."

"Well, I hope it's for better," L remarked, then downed the last of his tea.

* * *

"_Henh, henh, henh…_," B chuckled, looking at the night's handiwork. His work was much easier now that Sophia was at his side. Sophia thought so too. But of course she did; she was molded from Beyond's character, after all….

Through Sophia's observations of the Bond between Light and I, B had made a few theories about how the Bond differed among pairs. Sometimes it could be equal changes among those Bonded, but B figured it had to do with strength of will and the character of each person. Then there were the different ways those Bonded could feel towards one another. There were lots of ways a Bond could go. B and Sophia had a strong Bond almost like that of a father and daughter, or loving siblings. If two who were Bonded were a couple, like in Light and my or Sam and L's case, then it would make it only stronger; more pronounced and more in tune. If two were to hate one another, it could very well be Bond of hatred. That wouldn't end well, B had concluded.

But that was beside the point.

Right now, he had to finish his work before the victim's blood became too sticky for use.

Sophia was already on it.

B smiled slightly despite himself, then did his own work, propping the body up against the wall. Teamwork between the cold killer and the not-so-innocent nine-year-old. Then he leaned down to place his own hand in the crimson liquid, and helped Sophia with their little display. She couldn't reach the high parts after all, could she?

And as they painted the wall of the alley in red, Beyond couldn't help but think how important they were to each other. Maybe it really was only because of the Bond. Maybe it was only because he knew that she _was_ him in her own right, and vice versa. Maybe it was only because of the fact they bled together, they burned together, and they died together. No matter what. Maybe it was only this, but what did that all matter in the long run?

B believed in fate.

He also believed in time.

But most of all, Beyond Birthday believed in death.

And, even as he painted a dead girl's lifeblood on the wall with Sophia right beside him, he thought of how one day Sophia would have to die. But he supposed that wouldn't matter, because he'd die at that time too. She and him would die together when it was time; it couldn't happen any other way. And he knew his eyes would tell him when to worry, when it would happen, because although his and her lifespans were ever-changing, he knew how to read death. That was who he was. The human reaper surely should know when he and his other half would die. Death made up Beyond's being.

He simply couldn't imagine his eyes ever betraying him….

* * *

_**Fun Fact**_**: Real-life Sam was the one who made the suggestion to have Mello say "I cut my chocolate," but for awhile it seemed like that was impossible to fit in. But then came that scene. xD To this day, Real-life Sierra is amused by that scene...**

**Review? For Mello cutting his chocolate!**


	6. Chapter 6

_**The Reading Kind**_**: **Sierra has told me to tell you that you're amazing too. c:  
'Autistic, random, sweet-loving panda genius,' eh? Beautiful description. Truly beautiful. I'm just glad I got you laugh, dear reader~ I like making people laugh...or at least smile. c: It's nice.  
Sam and Natalie really have changed, haven't they? It's rather hard not to after reaching the final step... It's actually kinda sad, really...  
The Bond of hate will come when it will come... but don't get your hopes up for it, because it may be a little while. I don't think BB wants to necessarily _kill _L and Sam... It would defeat the purpose of beating L if L were dead. He just tried to kill Sam in the previous story because he knew it wouldn't kill L and he would have loved to see what would happen if half of a Bond were to die... See what would happen if L were torn in half...  
It's safe to be scared for Light and Natalie. After all, they _are _acting as Kira, and _someone _has to win at the end of all of this...  
I cannot sleep with the television on for the life of me. I don't even have a TV in my room. Heck, I don't even watch TV. xD Ah well. I feel so bad for that cookie cake, though. Poor, poor, soiled cookie cake.

_**BB**_**: **Okay... I'm going to be honest and say I was still imagining B talking through that whole paragraph... I don't even... xD You seem like a nice person. I'd randomly give you a hug for sure~  
...Back to talking to BB.  
Well...gosh. Thank you very much. But of course I don't think you're a heartless creature. I really do like you and wish I could just give you a nice hug.  
A collection of Barbie dolls, eh? Well, killing such things _can _help with stress, that's true, haha. I don't doubt you have a wonderful singing voice, dear BB. In fact, I'd love to hear you sing, haha.  
Of course! Real-Life Sam's favorite BOTDF song is 'P.L.U.R.' She loves the last two you mentioned as well; 'Revenge Porn' and 'Don't Want To Be Like You.' She'd actually like to know if you like Breathe Carolina, Asking Alexandria, or Bring Me The Horizon, if you don't mind her asking~ I'd actually like to say right now that I absolutely love both Black Veil Brides and Falling In Reverse, so...yay. I love you. I just thought I'd let you know that. You're just amazing.  
Good luck with...not snapping my neck? Haha, thank you, I think. And of course I like your German. I love that language... _Sie_ _erhalten einen herzlichen Empfang.  
_(...I don't actually speak German, sadly... ...As you may be able to assume. But I'd love to learn. Aha.)_  
_

_**Reader**_**: **Ah, yes. If you'll notice, every part of this story is technically from Natalie's point of view, because she is the writer. However, the story still changes frames of mind from her to BB to Sam, et cetera, et cetera... So...sorry for confusing you, though...  
Blarg, thank you very much. I wish you luck on yours as well~

* * *

Aizawa set a file down on his desk, then looked all of us: Light, Matsuda, Ide, Mogi, and I. "There's a new case open, and we'll be working on that as well as the Mello case," he informed us.

"What sort of case is it?" Matsuda asked, happy to be on a new job. The Mello case really wasn't getting anywhere.

"It's a murder that was in an alley off of Omotesandou," Aizawa explained, circling his desk so he could face us from behind it.

I nodded. From Light's knowledge, I knew Omotesandou was a district in the Minato and Shibuya wards of Tokyo; an avenue and neighborhood known for its shopping.

"The victim was Sayuri Sakamoto," Aizawa continued, and my breath caught in my throat.

Sayuri Sakamoto? But that was Sam's old alias from back when L hadn't faked his death yet. It couldn't be…. It had to be a coincidence. Yes, of course, that could only be it. Why would they call her by her old alias anyhow? Besides, I'd seen her just last night. I hadn't looked in her room that morning, but that didn't mean she wasn't in it….

Despite this logic, I was looking anxiously down at the photographs that Aizawa was showing us. It wasn't Sam. I released the breath I didn't know I was holding. She had brown hair, true, but it was straight, layered, and fluffy. Plus, she had a red streak. And... now that I looked closer, it almost looked like she was wearing a wig. She was wearing a necklace, from what I could see, and a lot of bracelets. She wore a shirt that said simply _I heart Tokyo_, only the 'heart' was actually a picture of a red heart. She held a piece of paper in her left hand….

But Light's attention was set on something else, and so I decided to look at what he was. Above her was writing in blood.

_Watashi wa Kira desu._

I could feel a sick sort of feeling in my throat. A fierce anger; no… contempt? Is that the right word? Typically, it was more from Light than me, but I can't truly say it wasn't from me, too…. How dare this unworthy scum call himself Kira? He was a killer himself, of who seemed to be a completely innocent young woman…. Yes, this fool needed to be caught. Maybe Kira himself could get the job done….

"'_I am Kira?_'" Matsuda read.

"This killer's crazy," Ide said, shaking his head.

"Yeah," Matsuda agreed. "The public won't be happy with this…."

"Is this why we're doing this case, instead of the people on homicide?" Light asked, looking up from the picture at last to shift his gaze to Aizawa.

Aizawa nodded. "You five are known within the force as _the_ task force, and it's known you all work well together. So, whenever a task force is needed for a case, typically I'll call upon you. That is, of course, unless you don't fit the requirements."

"Was the homicide team already at the crime scene?" asked Light.

Aizawa nodded. "Yes, and they already cleaned up the body."

"What is she holding in her hand?" I asked, pointing to the picture.

"Right," said Aizawa, and pulled out another picture from the file. "It was a map of Tokyo." On the desk, he laid out a picture of a crinkled up map of Tokyo, as he had said it was. "She was a tourist from a different part of Japan."

"Uh, what's that smudge there?" Matsuda asked, pointing to a grey mark in the Akihabara district.

Aizawa shrugged. "A shadow, maybe, or a glitch in the camera." He laid down another picture. "On the back of it there was a note."

I eyed it, surprised to find it was in English.

_They're wrong. It's not just a sickness in me, there's a sickness in _society_. That's what I think.  
__But I'm looking forward to spending my time in Tokyo! I know there's not much time left, but if I die here, this note is my memoir of happiness. I never kept a journal, but I always wanted to go to Tokyo. This should be fine. But this is only the beginning. I'll travel all around, to see everything I can. I'll try something new; maybe go to a costume café. My friend told me those were fun. Maybe I'll meet a cute guy along the way. A dying girl still has her small pleasures.  
__But it's friends and family that are most important in the long run. I am young. I wanted a family. But in the end, what I have is all I need in these last bits of life. Remember this, to those who actually read this. Those close to you become a part of you; they're like your other half. You can't live without them. Don't take them for granted, and enjoy life.  
__~Sayuri__  
_

"Ugh… English is so annoying…," Matsuda mumbled. "Why'd she write in another language?"

"She mentions dying," Ide points out, his index finger indicating the word '_die_.'

"She also mentions sickness," Light added. "Is there any idea what she's talking about, when she says 'the sickness in me'?"

"This note kinda gives me the creeps," Matsuda commented weakly.

"You've held the _Death Note_ in your hands, and _this _gives you the creeps?" Ide asked him skeptically.

"Uh…."

"To answer your question, Light," Aizawa came in, "records show that Sakamoto was a cancer patient due to die within the next few months. She probably wanted to go to Tokyo before her time was up."

"That would explain why she's writing as if she knows she's going to die," I said with a nod.

"Well, that's too bad, then," said Matsuda, rubbing the back of his head. "She's meant to die soon and she ends up killed by some murderer."

"Are there any suspects yet?" asked Mogi.

Aizawa shook his head.

"Alright," said Matsuda, getting pumped up despite the fact moments before he'd been slightly unnerved and sympathetic. "Who's doing what?"

"Mogi," Aizawa commanded with authority, "you can go more in-depth into Sakamoto's background."

Mogi nodded.

"Light and Ide, you can go to the crime scene to see if you can find anything that homicide didn't catch."

"Right," said Ide, while Light nodded.

"Natalie and Matsuda, you will interview her twin sister, who she was staying with while she was in Tokyo. They were travelling together."

"Got it!" Matsuda chirped as Aizawa handed him the address on a slip of paper, while I smiled in acknowledgement. But despite the smile, I was shifting uncomfortably in the knowledge Light and I would be in separate groups. It wasn't so much that I would miss him, it was only the fact that I knew I worked best when he was at my side. I blamed the Bond. Since we worked together, we relied upon our daily little piece of contact to ensure we wouldn't be affected by the restlessness. It was, perhaps, because of this that I didn't have much of a tolerance for being away for too long. I wasn't used to it.

Light, of course, noticed my slight unease, and gripped my hand for but a moment and squeezed reassuringly before releasing it immediately after and turning to follow Ide out the door. I smiled despite myself as Matsuda led me enthusiastically in our own direction. Looking down at the slip of paper Aizawa had given him, he beamed at me. "We get to go up to Akasaka! Have you been there yet?"

"Yes," I answered without thinking, then looked back to see if I was right. "…No." No, that had been Light, not me. Stupid half-merged subconscious. Wait. "Yes," I said again, tilting my head to the side. I was beginning to confuse myself.

Matsuda laughed lightly as we headed out of the main room and into the hallway, where the vending machine and the elevator were. We had obviously come for the latter. "Well, actually, I realize now that was a stupid question. That guy Mello killed back in March, remember that? When you were almost hit by that truck, but Light saved you? Yeah, that was in Akasaka."

"Oh," I remarked. "I tend to not pay attention to my surroundings." But Light did. He knew that, I didn't, but now I knew….

He laughed again. "I think all of us could tell that by now, Natsumi!"

I chuckled weakly. "Yeah, that's true…." I felt myself relaxing as we waited in the elevator. Matsuda just knew how to do that to people… unless you were someone like Aizawa. For now, being Kira didn't matter as much. We were just two detectives on a new case, that was all.

"That's one of your quirks," Matsuda said, stepping out of the elevator. I followed suit.

"Yes," I agreed. "I have listening problems and don't pay attention. Then you're the lovable goofball that tends to cause trouble."

I got a weak laugh in response. "And then L…" – he glanced at someone standing at the desk – "…er… Ryuuzaki has all of his weird mannerisms." He made a gesture with his hands, as if to demonstrate.

"Then Near has his toys and his hair," I smiled, giving my hair a little twirl to make my point. I was enjoying this little game.

"Mello has his chocolate."

"Matt has his video games."

"Light has…." Matsuda paused. We were waiting to cross the street now. "What quirks does Light have?"

"His thinking position," I pointed out, then demonstrated by putting one hand to my chin and the other to the opposite arm's elbow. "Or," I added, getting out of the position as we began to cross the street, "his mask."

"His mask?" Matsuda repeated.

I nodded. "He keeps his emotions hidden well. He seems emotionless sometimes, but he's still got all his emotions. He just doesn't show them; kinda like L." I shrugged. "It's a habit at this point."

"Huh."

"Then there's his stubborn nature which he gets from his dad, or his inclination towards justice. He's thoughtful; that can define him well, at times. His intellect is a bit of a quirk in its own right. Oh, and you can't forget his confidence."

Matsuda chuckled. "Figures you'd know most about Light, huh?"

I rolled my eyes. "It's only because we're mind synced."

"Well," he conceded, tilting his head, "a lot of those quirks you mentioned weren't as noticeable as, say, holding a document as though it were diseased."

I laughed at that. "You mean like Ryuuzaki does?"

"Yeah…."

I nodded, still smiling. "Yeah, the Wammy kids tend to have very prominent quirks."

He blinked. "I guess you're right…."

We got into Matsuda's car, having already reached the NPA building's parking lot, and drove on in silence towards Akasaka. "What's Akasaka like?" I asked him, despite the fact I already knew from Light's knowledge. "You seemed so excited."

Matsuda shrugged, thankfully keeping his eyes on the road. "It's got its clubs and restaurants and hotels."

I quirked an eyebrow. "So is this where you go when you go out drinking, then?"

He laughed. "You got me there!" He paused, allowing his laughter to die down a little before he added, "But I only do that every once in a while."

"Well, that's good," I remarked. I tilted my head slightly, not wanting the conversation to die. "Where exactly is Akasaka?"

"It's up north a ways…. Well, you remember Aoyama?"

I nodded. "Where you and Light went in search of the second Kira. Where Misa met Light."

"…When you put it together like that, it makes it sound like…." He shook his head. "Never mind. Well, Aoyama is right next to Akasaka. It's just east of Aoyama, actually. And, if you remember, back at New Year's, Akasaka was where the CD Grand Prix was held. You remember that?"

"Oh yeah! When Near kidnapped Misa and Mogi!" I laughed. "How could I forget?"

"Maybe you're just forgetful?" he suggested, smiling along with me.

"Oh, yeah, I already knew that," I replied, and giggled. We lapsed into silence again, and I could tell that Matsuda, for once, was thinking serious thoughts. People misinterpret him too often. Sometimes people – like Aizawa or L, for example – thought he was all idiocy with no knowledge. He had his smarts, and he had his serious moments.

"Natsumi?" he said eventually.

"Yeah, Matsuda?" I responded, at ease. I knew he'd ask something serious, but it wasn't like he suspected us of being Kira. Or rather, me.

"Did L ever thank you?"

I looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"For saving him. Did he ever thank you?"

I thought about it a moment. "Well, no, not directly, but that's just the way he is."

"Right…. Did Light?"

"The moment he pieced it together, yes."

He still kept his eyes on the road, but I could see his eyes losing their bright, innocent shine. "And you knew throughout the whole case exactly what would happen? When and how people would die? You grew close to them knowing they could die at that time?"

"I grew close to them knowing I could save them at that time," I replied.

There was a pause. "…I almost killed Light at the warehouse," he said eventually, his hands tightening on the steering wheel. "You stopped me. I almost… I almost shot Light right in the head." His grip tightened further, his knuckles going white. "It makes me sick knowing I _wanted _to kill him at that time. And then… he'd be dead, and…." He shook his head slightly. "Thank you. For stopping me."

My gaze softened. "Matsuda, you wouldn't have killed him even if I hadn't acted. Me yelling, 'You'll kill him,' was just me being freaked out. Ide and Aizawa would have stopped you otherwise. If everything had gone as it should have, Ryuk would have been the one to kill him."

Matsuda's gaze flicked to me, then back to the road. "Even if I didn't kill him, in any circumstance, I still would have driven him to his death." His eyes darkened. "Didn't you see him, after I'd shot him? He was…. It was the bullets _I _shot that broke him. I broke him…." He swallowed. "It makes me sick, seeing him that far gone; he…. I pushed him farther than he could go, at that warehouse, and I… I would have…." I could see his hands were shaking he was gripping the steering wheel so hard. "I've never had any killer intent. But… against Light… knowing I…." He closed his eyes for a moment, squeezing them shut, but opened them again so we wouldn't crash into something. "I was shooting in a red haze. I wanted so badly to kill him. I wanted to shoot him, end it all, watch him _die_ for all he did. There was no second thoughts. I just—wanted him—_dead._" He swallowed again. "It makes me feel _sick._ I hate myself for the fact I actually…."

"Matsuda," I interrupted, "it's okay. Light did bad things; it's only human to want him dead."

"Did you see Aizawa waving his gun around, wanting to blow Light's brains out?" he asked. His voice was tight, and slightly higher than normal. "Aizawa's the one with the temper!"

"One of the things to fear in the world is the anger of a gentle man. You were closest to Light, and you had firmly believed in his innocence. To know that he'd been lying all that time, to know that he'd let his father die, to know that it had been _him _all along… it only makes sense that you were the one to break and act on the fuel of the need for vengeance. Aizawa had his doubts. Ide wasn't as close to Light, and neither was Mogi. The SPK had only just met him. Near had an abnormal amount of self-control, and wanted only to catch him so he could leave him in a cell to rot and die." I felt an edge of bitterness creeping into my tone as I spoke of Near, but realized it and returned to a calm and soothing low pitch. "Not only that," I said, "but in doing what you did, you saved Near's life. Light almost killed Near, but you stopped him. Did you know he only needed to write one more letter?"

His eyes clouded. "Maybe I did the first time. What about the second time? I couldn't save Near then. You remember at the SPK headquarters, when everyone was shooting at him at the same time? Mine was the bullet that missed. I couldn't do it again, and… and maybe if…."

"You're only human," I pointed out. "And besides, Near's fine. He's alive, isn't he? Don't regret it."

"…I guess…," Matsuda agreed grudgingly.

"If it makes you feel any better, Light doesn't resent you for it," I added. "Actually, knowing who he was, he's glad you took action back at the warehouse."

"…Thank you," he replied softly.

Silence blanketed us again as we drove, each of us lost in our own thoughts. Thinking back again, I found myself feeling sick again, too, just thinking about the Yellow Box, especially since now I could see it from Light's point of view. I could feel his pain, and my hand unconsciously rubbed my wrist where Light had first been shot, even though there was no scar there. We didn't blame Matsuda, we really didn't, but sometimes we'd look back and frown, gazing with accusing eyes at the memory of him. It was the ghost of a feeling that told us he was a fool, and there was this apparition of bitterness that came up every so often. Like it was the old Light's emotions fighting to resurface. But they never truly did, and so Matsuda remained innocent in our eyes. Idiotic sometimes, perhaps, but not guilty of murder. Matsuda wasn't the murderer. The old Light was. And we were the martyrs.

It was that out-of-place whisper from neither of us that was chuckling bitterly at Matsuda's confession. '_He feels sorry, does he?_' it said. '_He deserves regret, just as Near deserves to die._' But of course it wasn't exactly heard by either of us, either, and the whisper passed by, unnoticed and forgotten. It was never there; a fleeting thought that was discarded immediately. The old Light didn't exist anymore….

Matsuda took a sudden intake of breath. "I said sorry for shooting Light, didn't I?" he asked fretfully. "I'm such an idiot! Tell him I say sorry through your head, will you?"

"Uh…."

"Damn, how could I forget something like that?!"

"Message received," I said, "but you_ did_ say sorry…."

"I did?" he asked, then sighed, relieved. "Well, that's good….." I was glad to see he was getting his lively nature back rather quickly. "Have you ever been to Akihabara?"

"Um, no." Light's knowledge informed me that was another district of Tokyo, with shops specifically for any _otaku_, or 'geek' in the Japanese language. It had tons of anime and manga and video games…. Oh, and cosplay cafés. "But I can imagine it would be fun…."

"Well, I didn't know if you had or not, but I thought maybe you had. You said this world was a manga in your world, right?"

"Yeah."

"That's so weird! Funny, I never thought I'd be in a manga." He laughed joyously. Yep, he was back to himself. "Oh, here we are," he told me, and we turned into the parking lot of a hotel. We got out of the car and headed inside, going up in the elevator to the ninth floor. Yeah, it was a relatively tall hotel. Sayuri Sakamoto's identical twin, Sanami Sakamoto, was currently rooming in room 909. Matsuda knocked on the door upon reaching it, and there was silence for a moment. Then, a click of the lock, and the door swung open.

Sanami was the spitting image of her sister, but her hair was in a buzz cut. There was a noticeable difference. Her eyes were puffy, but both Matsuda and I pretended not to notice. We held up our badges at the same time, though not showing our identifications. Kira was still out and about, after all. She shuffled to the side to let us in, her eyes downcast.

"Hi," I greeted with a smile and a bow, then held out my hand, "I'm Natsumi Matsuo; would you be Sanami Sakamoto?"

She eyed my hand, then shook it. She looked straight into my eyes with a piercing gaze. I'd never before seen eyes so green. "That would be me," she said. Her voice was soft, but had a surprising amount of intensity.

"And you can call me Matsui," Matsuda said kindly, bowing slightly.

"Nice to meet you," she said politely, then swept her arm forward in a welcome gesture. "Please, come in."

"Thank you," I said, and we came in. "We just need to ask a few questions about Sayuri; is that okay?"

She didn't make eye contact as she closed the door behind us. Multiple bracelets adorned her wrist, I noticed, just as it had been with Sayuri. They clinked as she pushed the door closed. "If it means catching the bastard that killed her, then yes."

"Of course," Matsuda grinned.

When he didn't take out a pad of paper, I took out my own. "So I don't forget," I explained in a mumbling tone, then looked up at her. "Where was Sayuri last night?"

She looked at me with those piercing almond-shaped eyes. They were rather beautiful. "We went to a restaurant last night. We were just leaving when she realized she had forgotten her phone. She told me to wait there." Her gaze shifted away from mine again. "I should have gone with her."

"Don't think like that," said Matsuda.

Sanami shook her head, closing her eyes. Her eyelashes were long. She swallowed. "She took awhile, so I went back to the restaurant to look for her. She'd left a note at the table telling me she'd meet me back at the hotel room…." She paused; regret shone in her downcast eyes. They were growing wet with unshed tears. She was likely thinking things along the lines of '_If only I'd…._' If only, if only…. But no one can change the past. "I figured she'd found a guy to walk with, maybe. It's not like she'd fake the note…." She wiped her eyes with her wrist, pushing the bracelets back on her arm. "She couldn't lie to me. We were too close. Closer than most humans can be… identical twins."

Thinking on it, I discovered that I could actually somewhat understand her pain. Sure, I didn't have a twin, but I had a Bond, and if Light were to die and I were to live, I don't know how I'd end up.

"We had this bond, you know?" she said, her voice cracking. She was fighting to keep tears at bay. "Sometimes it was like we were thinking the same thing, and—and we would finish each other's sentences and all that." She waved her hand. "Twin stuff. But to be without her—" She broke off, and tried again. "To be without her is like half of me is just—is just _gone_. I knew the moment the doctor told her she only had a few months left that I would have to learn to live without her, but…." She took a deep, shaky breath. "She wanted to spend the rest of her life fulfilling her dreams. She knew she had a set time, but—but that murderer just—he just cut it off before she—before she could." She gave a dry sob. "That _bastard_!"

"I… I'm sorry for your loss…," Matsuda offered, at a loss for words.

"Mind if I give you a hug?" I asked, soft and low.

"Tha—thank you…," she choked out, and I embraced her. Matsuda stood to the side, awkwardly watching us. He didn't know what to do, poor guy. I was glad she accepted the hug. It felt nice to know I might be helping in some way. "You know…" she said in a voice layered with the sound of grief, "…I shaved my head just so that we could be bald together. Going through it all, together, through to the end…." She sniffed. "Being twins, I don't know why she got cancer and I didn't…. Why did it… why did it have to be her?"

"I don't know," I told her in gentle tones. "Sometimes things just don't go the right way."

"Don't you just—just hate it when that happens?" I sensed an attempt at humor in her tone, and smiled.

Hugging her a little tighter, I said, "I want to catch the murderer of your sister. I will place my whole being in catching the bastard." She gave a small laugh. "May we ask you only a few more questions? Without answers, I don't know how far we'll get."

He moved her head up and down – a nod – and pulled away, turning so she wasn't facing us. She wiped away the tears on her cheeks and in her eyes, then looked at us again with more light in her eyes; a sense of determination. The piercing look I saw when I first caught her gaze, though now her eyes were glistening. The red in her eyes from crying just made them even greener, if that was possible. I eyed her lifespan, noticing that she would have to live without her sister for many years to come. I hoped she'd get stronger in the long run.

"What do you need to know?" she asked.

I thought a moment. "Was she carrying a map of Tokyo at the time?" I inquired.

"Yes," Sanami replied with a nod.

"Did Sayuri know much English?"

A touch of confusion came to her features. "Not much. Why?"

"On the back of the map she was carrying," said Matsuda, "there was a note that she wrote. It was all in English."

"English?" she repeated. "That doesn't make sense…. Why would she…?"

"Do you think maybe the killer wrote it?" Matsuda asked me.

"Maybe," I replied. "But if that's so, then that means the killer was trying to give us a message with it." I looked back to Sanami. "What were Sayuri's views on society?"

She frowned ever so slightly. "She's been thinking it's almost… rotten ever since she got sick." Her gaze shifted to the ground.

"You mean, like, diseased?" asked Matsuda.

"Yeah."

"But then," I said, my eyebrows clinching together, "if Sayuri doesn't know English, and the killer wrote that note, then how did the killer know about Sayuri's views?"

"The killer talked about that in the note?" Sanami asked, slightly alarmed.

"Maybe he was stalking her?" Matsuda suggested.

"It's possible," I answered.

Sanami's eyes blazed. "He was _stalking _us?"

"Maybe," I said. "Is there anyone she was hanging around lately?"

"No, we only hung around each other, mostly."

"Has anyone you've met been popping up in random places you happen to go?" asked Matsuda. "Or, have you seen anyone that looked at you two with creepy eyes, or something?"

Sanami thought a moment, her brow creased in concentration. "There was… one guy, his name was…. I think he called himself Ship."

"Sheep?" I asked. Then I realized it came out as _hitsuji_ in Japanese. No, not sheep. Ship. Pronounced sheep. Why would he call himself that? I tilted my head. "What an odd name."

"He said it was a nickname," she responded, shifting uncomfortably. "He was just a little… creepy, you know? Like, his eyes…." She made a gesture with her hands to demonstrate creeped-out-ness. "I'm not the one who noticed it, actually. Sayuri did…."

"What did he look like?" asked Matsuda.

"He was… tan; I guess he went out a lot. His hair was black, but that's common…. His eyes were hazel. He… didn't look Japanese. His eyes were more round than slanted." She gestured to me. "Like yours, but they were… narrow. Always narrow, like he had this perpetual glare he always wore. His smile never reached his eyes."

"Can you remember anything else about him?" I asked.

She shook her head. "That was the only time we ever saw him. We never saw him again."

I nodded. "Alright. We'll contact you if we have a development on the case."

Matsuda handed her a contact card of the NPA. "Call if something happens, or if you remember something else," he smiled.

She smiled back. I could see gratefulness shining in her eyes. "Thank you."

I bowed in my theatrical, overdramatic way. "No problem, dear Sanami."

* * *

_**Fun Fact**_**: The 'Watashi wa Kira desu' written in blood on the wall is an idea I may have gotten from an actual case in Europe... in which someone was murdered, and the killer actually wrote that on the alley wall in the victim's blood.**

**Review? For overdramatic bows? :3**


	7. Chapter 7

_**Random**_**: **I suppose we'll find out, eh? And I like that quote, by the way! It's wonderful; I may use that... or maybe just write it in my special little notebook and keep it forever and ever. ovo  
I support Kira in the fact it actually succeeds in deterring further crime, and thus protects future minds...or even innocence... I'm sorry, but I feel strongly about that whole 'taking of innocence' thing. Perhaps, then, Kira is kind. Merciful. Maybe rotting in prison is a better punishment... but isn't really the entire point, either...  
I'm going to tell you right now that the other three aliases won't be used... This way you won't get your hopes up. ;v; Sorry. I just thought it would be too unlikely to find four people with all four aliases that were meant to die at that time...you know? Ahh... It would be interesting, though, wouldn't it? But... it isn't B's intended pattern anyhow, so...

_**BB**_**: **...Yay. I like hugs.  
I am actually very good at seeing every side. Perhaps it comes with being a writer, I don't know, but... I especially feel for people like you, dear BB. And the darker bits of the mind have always intrigued me anyway, haha.  
A sweetheart, huh? I have never been called that in my life, except perhaps by my mother. I'll be honest with that, haha. Aren't you a dear? ...So, wait... you like hugs? That must be terrible if you don't have many people who want to hug you... Wahh...  
I actually still have tons of Barbie dolls from when I was little. I probably shouldn't hurt them, though, because my younger niece still plays with them. Ahaha... ...Okay... I'll admit I wasn't expecting that one. An L plushie, huh? Isn't he your rival, dear? I mean, I understand he's comfortable - Real-Life Sam tells me so all the time - but...hm. It's not really _disturbing_, just... more surprising than anything.  
Alright... Any night, stand atop the pavilion across the street from my home. I will listen, and if I hear song, I shall know it's you. There we are.  
Huzzah! We all have wonderful tastes in music; how lovely~  
Hahaha, don't worry, BB, I don't love you in that way. It's not a 'I want to be with you' or a kissing or hand-holding love; not even a fangirl love. You're just amazing, which we both agree upon. I'd just love to be your friend~  
Aw, you care about my well-being? Thank you, dear! I would hate to know you'd been hurt as well, dear BB. I hate people getting hurt...unless maybe if it's someone who deserves it.  
Ah! I actually know French! Ça me fait plaisir, BB~ c:

_**The Reading Kind**_**: **Her twin is just her twin, dear. She may come up... a lot later, but I can't think of how you'd know her... *pet* Don't fret over it... Though, yes, it is the same murder from the chapter before it. c: It's okay, though, dear, I have low self-esteem too. But look! You're right! Natalie and the rest of the task force is involved now; paths are converging...  
Yeah... the Bond of hate doesn't come in until the next story. Sorry about that... Gee... my readers are getting so excited about Max... I feel kinda bad now... xD  
My life is quite alright. School's getting more tense as the exams approach, but summer is definitely a thing I'm looking forward to. I love summer. It's lovely, isn't it? The rain, I mean... Just standing in it, allowing it to soak and drench you... It's rather nice. I love the rain... Texas, huh? I've never been there... Yet I have family there. Funny. Hm.  
Ohh, now you're calling me that too? xD It's so...god-like. Really flattering, honestly. I don't really know what to say about it.  
It's okay that you're following B's posts. He's amusing, so it's understandable. C: And... *holds hand to heart* That cookie cake will be remembered well.  
Ooh... I used to _love _that song, as well as that band. The song really can describe them now, huh? It's actually rather sad... Ah well...  
Ahh, well, the Bond is a bit complex in its own way, ahaha. Real-Life Sierra gives me headaches when she asks me to figure out exactly what would happen to people if they were Bonded to more than one person... *shakes head* Ahhh...  
Pshh, don't worry about a long review. Long reviews make me happy, typically. I don't mind a bit. I just hope all that's on your mind isn't overwhelming, my dear~

_**Reader**_**: **Well, I guess it's a good thing you feel bad for the murder victim...because...well...she's a murder victim. xD I do suppose there are parallels between the Bond and the connection of twins, eh? There will be a little bit of Sam in this chapter... and some BB in the next, so I hope this satisfies you, aha. Here's the next one~

**Alright, guys... Double update this week! Because we've already got 50 reviews... Wow... Thank you for reviewing; all of you!**

**In any case, enjoy the chapter~**

* * *

"That's it!" Anna cried. The SPK minus Near all shifted, turning to look at her. "I'm bored! We need to do something other than wait!"

"Patience is a virtue," Near said calmly as he put together a little model plane.

"Yeah, well, I've practiced patience for _six flarping years_, if you haven't noticed! I'm tired of waiting, because that's all I've had to do! First, Aunt Natalie was always off with L and the task force, and even when we moved into L's special building there was practically nothing to do." She was now counting up on her fingers as she went on. "Then, L died and Sam ran off, so Sierra and I were stuck in a hotel room, bored again. Then _Sierra _got _kidnapped_ by _Mello_, and _what do I do? _Nothing! L hung around, sure, but he was no fun at all!" Anna huffed, crossing her arms. "I was barely involved at the warehouse, and the moment Kira came back, even though I've been here at the SPK, not much has happened."

"…I died," Near offered flatly, gazing at her.

"Well, yeah, but do you think I consider that _fun_? That was horrible!"

"Well, you weren't bored, that's for sure," Halle remarked drily.

Anna rolled her eyes. "My point is, we either need to get something done, or _you_, Near, need to be more fun. Dance. Run with me for once. _Get up_, for Pete's sake! I can teach you acrobatics, or at the very least show you how to do a cartwheel!"

"…I'd rather not…," Near said dully, looking up at her.

Anna leaned down and gripped his shoulders, shaking him to make her point. "_Show some emotion, gosh darn it!_" She stopped shaking him and let him go.

He blinked dazedly. "Please don't do that…."

Gevanni coughed to hide a small laugh. Rester frowned at him.

"Well," Anna persisted, "will you at least have dinner at my house tonight? Sam will be there, too, and so will Aunt Natalie and possibly L. Come on…."

"Will you shake me again if I don't?" he asked, looking up at her as he set down his airplane.

It was meant to be some sort of joke, but Anna took it seriously. "I might."

Near sighed, then looked to Rester. "It seems you'll be driving me to Anna's tonight."

Anna blinked, surprised. "I actually got you to come? Yes!" She did a little jig, happy with her accomplishment.

With dinner with Near in mind, Anna waited for the few more hours she was to spend at SPK headquarters. She talked animatedly with Gevanni and Halle to pass the time, though they actually worked as they conversed. She certainly had a lot of energy now that she had something to look forward to. But then, Anna always did have a lot of energy. She was actually probably the most active of the four of us….

"Come on, come on, come on!" Anna pressed, pulling on Near's arm to get him to his feet. "Let's go; come on!"

Now on his feet, Near leaned down to pick up his toy robot, along with a Rubik's cube he had set aside. "I'm bringing these; I hope you don't mind."

"That's fine," Anna insisted. "Now come on!"

"Please come, Rester," said Near without much inflection, unfazed by Anna's need to hurry.

"Of course," Rester responded, and Anna let out a cheer and ran ahead. Finding they weren't running with her, she grudgingly made her way back and walked at their pace.

"You want me to carry anything?" Anna asked Near.

He shifted the two items in his arm, and twirled his hair. "No. I'm fine."

Anna found that the car ride from HQ to her house was much, much shorter than the trip by foot. She was grateful for this. The traffic made it irksome because they seemed to not be making progress every so often, but overall it took less time. "Thank you, Mr. Rester!" Anna chirped then got out of the car, pulling Near along.

"I will call when it is time for me to go," Near informed Rester, and he nodded. Anna shut the car door, and the two went inside. Rester began driving away.

"Yeah, we're working on a new case right now; the murder in Omotesandou. Sayuri Sakamoto," I said to Roger as they entered.

"Yes, I heard about that," Roger replied, then looked to Near and Anna. "Hello."

"Roger?" Anna asked blankly.

"That would be Watari to you," L responded, pouring himself a cup of tea. "Hmm…," he droned, reconsidering. He began plopping sugar cubes into his tea. "Actually, if you can call me L, I see no reason you cannot call him Roger. Call him what you like." He looked to the two. "Hello Anna; hello Near."

"Hello," Near responded.

"Why'd you bring Near?" Sam asked Anna, gesturing to the albino.

Near twirled his hair.

"Why'd you bring Roger?" Anna countered.

"I didn't," Sam replied, smiling slightly. "L did."

"Meh!" She looked for a place to sit down. With Sam, L, and Roger on the couch and me on the chair, Anna had nowhere to sit. So, she grabbed a pillow from beside Sam, put it on the ground, and sat there. Near merely sat himself down on the floor beside the couch. "So what are we talking about?" she asked brightly.

"From what I caught, a new case Natalie is working on," Near responded, beginning to tinker with his robot.

I nodded. "There's a case in Omotesandou that I'm working on right now. The public's all worked up about it."

"Why?" asked Anna.

Sam snorted.

"The killer has boldly written '_I am Kira_,' in the victim's blood," L answered, then took a sip of his tea. "That would be in Japanese, of course, Anna."

"Perhaps he wants attention," Near suggested.

"Probably," I agreed. "Plus, we're thinking the killer was trying to send a message to the police with the evidence at the crime scene."

L paused in setting down his cup for a moment, then resumed in the motion. "…How so?"

I shrugged. "It's only a theory. Besides, if you're curious…" – I made a gesture with my hand – "…then you can find what you need to, as L. This is supposed to be undisclosed information."

"Right," said L. "Of course."

I turned back to Anna and smiled. "You're just in time," I added, gesturing to both her and Near. "Dinner's almost ready; we're having Yakiniku and rice tonight." (Yakiniku was a Japanese barbeque, in case you didn't know.)

Anna made a face. "We have rice a lot."

Roger sighed, and Sam shrugged.

I cocked an eyebrow at her. "Well, we're in Japan, and rice is easy to make. You'll eat it if you want enough to eat."

"I'll have extra Yakiniku."

"There needs to be enough for everyone," I told her, looking around at the others to make my point. I lifted my glass of water. "Sometimes I feel like I'm your mother, you know that?" And I took a sip.

"Maybe you should be one," Sam suggested nonchalantly.

Cue spit-take. And a nice, meaningful glare at Sam.

Sam smiled innocently.

Roger took out a handkerchief with another sigh and began wiping the water off his face. I stood quickly. "I'm sorry, Roger," I apologized quickly, then made my way over to the kitchen to grab a napkin. I gave it to him when I returned. "Sorry," I muttered again. Anna was laughing at the fact I had sprayed water at him.

"It… it's fine…," said Roger.

Sam laughed. "So much for getting on his good side, huh?"

"Which, by the way, is rather hard to do anyway," L added. "I wouldn't be too disappointed."

I frowned at the two of them while Anna just amusedly puzzled over what she must have missed. The oven beeped, and I straightened up. "Oh; dinner's ready. Who's hungry?"

Sam sighed dramatically. "Back to your calm demeanor again, huh?"

Anna jumped to her feet. "I'm hungry!"

"I'm pretty sure there's enough for Near, too, even though I didn't anticipate him being here…."

"I apologize," said Near, getting to his feet and leaving his robot and Rubik's cube behind.

"No, it's fine," I smiled as I spooned the rice into a bowl. I already had the serving plate of Yakiniku on the counter, and so put that on the table as well. The table had been expanded so that it could fit more people.

"Near, you'll be eating, right?" asked Anna.

"Of course."

"Sorry," said Sam, waving a hand at Near, "I do believe we were under the impression that you ate your toys."

He tilted his head slightly. "Those wouldn't taste very good."

"Anything can taste good with enough sugar," L pointed out.

"Maybe, but it would certainly be hard to get down."

A vague smile appeared on L's features. "True."

By this time I had set the table, and everyone sat at their respective chairs and began to fill their plates (except for L, of course, but that goes without saying). "Near," asked Sam, "why are you such a towel?"

Near gazed at her quizzically. "A towel?" he repeated.

"Yes. A wet towel."

"Ah." Near poked at his meat with his chopsticks. "Well then, I'm not sure."

"You're no fun!" Anna huffed, pouting at Near.

Near glanced at her.

"Even Anna has admitted it!" Sam cried, raising her hands into the air. "The people have spoken!"

Anna stuck her tongue out at her.

Sam just happily ate her food. At this point the table had split off into two different conversations: Roger, L, and I talked about one thing, while Sam, Anna, and somewhat of Near conversed about something else. After swallowing a mouthful of rice, Sam added, "I still don't get why you think Near is so awesome, Anna."

Near looked to Sam again as he lifted a piece of meat to his mouth.

"He's just awesome, okay?" Anna frowned. "I don't get why you _don't _like him."

"He's got a creepy smile," she began, counting off on her fingers, "he just plain out creeps me out, he talks too much in explanations, he talks too little in conversations, he called L a loser, he's childishly annoying, and he cheats." She paused. "No offense, Near."

"None taken," he mumbled in response, poking at his meat again.

"He _doesn't cheat_!" Anna protested.

"Yes, he does," Sam said matter-of-factly, then popped a piece of meat into her mouth. "Must I bring up again how he tried to kill Mikami?" she asked, her mouth full.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Roger scowled, looking at her.

She swallowed, then stuck her tongue out at him indignantly.

"For the record," said Near, leaning on the table with his elbow and resting his head on his hand, "the only reason I did that was to ensure myself, the SPK, and the Kira task force weren't killed."

"Well, he didn't die, and you're still fine."

"It was a _precaution_," Near stressed the word. "If there was any chance that Mikami were to figure out that the notebook was switched, the whole plan would have gone wrong, and I can't rely on chance."

"It doesn't mean you can kill a guy," she sniffed.

"Mikami was aiding Kira, the mass murderer. He would have been imprisoned for life anyhow, if he were to live. Which he did, of course, but now he has escaped."

I blinked, then did a double take. "What? He did?"

I was ignored. "True," said Sam, "but you can't just kill Mikami like that. He's awesome. And epic. And smexy."

"No he's not," Anna disagreed. "Mikami's _stupid_!"

Sam stood abruptly, drawing attention from everyone at the table. "_This is mahogany_!"

"Your _face_ is mahogany!" she snapped.

Sam sat again, leaning her elbows on the table and looking at Anna with hard eyes. L, Roger, and I hesitantly returned to our own conversation about Mello. "Anna," said Sam. "Near called L a loser. That is not right."

"I didn't know at the time that L was actually alive," Near defended. "With only my knowledge at the time, L was supposed to be dead, killed by Kira. He lost."

"That's not fair, though! L was at a disadvantage!"

"Disadvantages don't matter. A loss is a loss."

"The murder weapon of the case was from _another freaking world_! How can he possibly best that?!" Near opened his mouth to speak, but Sam continued. "Near, no one can stop a _shinigami _from killing you! What if some random shinigami came down to Earth right now and decided to kill you? Does that mean you lost your battle against Kira?!"

"Yes. Yes it would."

"But…" said Anna slowly, "…L's awesome."

"Anna, that does not change the fact that L would have lost had Natalie not intervened. You're only a loser if you cannot win the game."

"I just lost The Game!" Sam cried. Then she scowled. "Yes, yes, Near, if you don't solve the puzzle you're nothing but a loser. Good way of thinking. L _did _solve the puzzle. He _knew _Light was Kira. He _solved it_, Near."

"But he couldn't prove it."

"See, that's the problem for all of us, isn't it?" Sam asked, tilting her head and smiling crookedly. "The thing is, L was about to prove it. Rem messed things up because of Light's meddling. Light and Misa would have been caught in no time if he'd lived."

"That's just it," said Near. "Because of Light, L would have died. With this, L lost. If you're dead, you cannot win. He almost would have won, I'll grant him that, but he supposedly died and so he lost."

"But L didn't lose!" Anna cried. "That was just Light being Light!"

Near's gaze hardened ever so slightly. "If L had died as he was meant to, he would have lost."

"But Near… L's awesome," Anna replied softly.

"Awesome or not, losing is losing and winning is winning. If L hadn't intervened at the warehouse, then I would have won against Kira and Kira would have never come back."

Sam glowered at him. "Are you saying this is _L's _fault? _Our _fault?"

"What?" Anna yelped. "But—but Near doesn't… he wouldn't…!" She looked at Near. "It isn't L's fault, right?"

"You have to admit," he said, "that if he hadn't created that plan for the warehouse, Kira would be gone for good." His eyes darkened. "Light should be dead right now."

"Near!" Anna snapped. "Light's a good guy now! You _saw_ how innocent he was at the warehouse after he forfeited."

Sam frowned and averted her gaze, sticking a piece of Yakiniku in her mouth.

"It doesn't matter if he was innocent right then," said Near. "Light still killed many people. Losing his memories doesn't erase that. And even with this, he's technically the same boy who started it all. He'd do it again, with or without his memories."

"Near, don't say that!" Anna protested. "Light is my friend and right now he's _not _Kira!"

Near frowned slightly and looked at his food.

"Well, Anna…" said Sam hesitantly, "…what if Light _is _Kira?"

"He isn't!" Anna insisted. "And even if he is, L should _not _be considered a loser and Light should _not _be dead because he's awesome!"

"I digress," Near muttered.

"Well, that's because you're plain out mean," Sam shrugged. "Practically no one likes you, at least in my group."

"I appreciate that," he uttered dully.

"Near, why do you have to be so _mean_?" Anna huffed. "Be nicer or I—or I might just end up having to pick a new favorite person!" She frowned.

"I cannot change who I am," he pointed out, his voice flat.

Sam shrugged again. "The only one who can make change to you is you, Near."

"I think I should be fine just like this."

"Yeah; look how well that's working out for you," she scoffed. "You are so loved; even _Matsuda _doesn't like you very much. …Again, no offense."

"None taken," he muttered, poking with a bit of irritation at his meat.

"Near," Anna frowned, crossing her arms, "you're a meanie poop."

"Am I?" he asked with dull inflection, glaring down at his food as he prodded it.

"Yes," said Anna. "Poo you; I don't like you right now."

He continued poking at his food for a moment more before he stood, looking to me. "Natalie," he said, his voice slightly harder than normal, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but may I please be excused from the table?"

I looked at him and blinked. "Uh, sure," I said, and he slid out from between the chair and the table and pushed the chair back in.

"Anna," he asked, "did you say that there were building things on the back porch? May I use them?"

"Um, yes and sure," she said, looking up at him bemusedly.

"Thank you." And he walked out the back door onto the thin, long platform-porch-thing outside, closing the door gently behind him.

"Is he alright?" I asked blankly. "I mean, I know he's a loner, but…."

Anna shrugged.

"Well, both Samantha and Anna have informed him that he's unwanted," L remarked, then took a sip of his tea. "They had quite the conversation."

I gave a _hn _in response, looking at the door for awhile longer before returning to my conversation with L.

Roger, on the other hand, had caught the last bit of Near's conversation with Sam and Anna, and leaned down to speak to my niece. "Be careful," he murmured to her.

"What do you mean?" she whispered back, confused.

Sam tilted her head, looking at them curiously but unable to hear them.

"Near is very tentative and cautious where he steps when it comes to trust," Roger told her. "You know this."

"Well, yeah…."

"Letting you into his group proves his trust, yes?"

"But that was only because of the mind sync."

"Maybe, but he trusts you pretty well now, correct?"

"I guess…."

"See, this" – he gestured to the door where Near had walked out – "is just how Near is. I wouldn't take him leaving us behind personally; he literally doesn't feel wanted. If he feels as such, he just accepts that and leaves. It's just when someone he trusts doesn't want him that he withdraws even more. That's why he's so careful with whom he trusts and with whom he accepts. He tends to feel like he doesn't belong anyway; he doesn't have the confidence when it comes to people." He chuckled lightly. "Mello didn't help much with that."

Anna looked down at her hands, placed in her lap. "Um… am I allowed to ask why that's the way he is?"

Roger looked at her with those squinty eyes from behind his glasses, the thin orbs expressing something like understanding. "Well, Near is a Wammy, I'm proud to say, and every Wammy has a background story. It's just they tend to not tell any of their past." He paused, as if considering whether or not it was right to tell her. "The reason he's like that, Anna, is because he was abandoned rather than having had parents that died."

Anna looked up at him and blinked. "Oh," she said blankly, at a loss for words, then gazed at the closed door that led to where Near had disappeared to.

* * *

**Poor Near...**

_**Fun Fact**_**: When Real-Life Sam was reading the 'Maybe you should be one,' bit where she teases Natalie, she didn't get it until a few paragraphs later. xD**

**Remember; extra chapter tomorrow~**

**Review? For Near's past? '^'**


	8. Chapter 8

_**Penguin**_**: **Aw, well, I'm sorry your day wasn't going so good... I'm glad I made you a bit happier, though...  
I'm sure BB gives wonderful hugs; mhmm.

_**BB**_**: **Aw, BB, I'll give you hugs too. At least you have Penguin. (I fear Real-life Sam may get jealous, though~ She really likes you, haha~)  
Well, according to Real-life Sam, Sierra, and Anna, what I write affects the relationship of characters with the real thing. If Sam slaps Near in the story, then consequently they believe that Near simply does not like the real her very much either. Similarly, as Sam is paired with L, it is believed in their heads that Real-life Sam is paired with L too.  
...So that's why she knows L is cuddly, I guess, haha.  
Yes, I can imagine, but... trust me, dear, I don't think you'll be scaring me away anytime soon. Usually I'm the one creeping others out, so...there we are.  
Pshh, who could forget that scene? That's probably my favorite episode of the anime, though I'll admit I find that particular scene to be a bit odd. Did you notice that Light's feet are ticklish? Adorable.  
...Sorry.  
So you're the one who taught L how to give a foot massage, eh? When did you manage to teach him that? I can believe you can massage feet; it's the connection between you and L there that I'm having trouble piecing together, haha.  
Ohh, huzzah! It will make for a lovely night, I'm sure~ Oh, BB, you flatter me. Though I'm glad you enjoy each update. Ah, you've even got a scene for yourself at the beginning here!  
Pshh, don't worry. I'm not the type to create that kind of relationship anyhow. I'm too awkward, you see. So, yes! We're friends! It _does _sound nice, doesn't it? Mm, it's always a nice thing to know that someone cares. You know, BB, I think you have a good heart, even if you don't feel it there sometimes.  
I...was able to translate bits of it, haha... I got the 'I would be happy to visit you' bit, but the rest is garbled in the translator. Ah, well. I'd love to see you, BB. I'll be sure to save a nice jar of jam for you~

_**Reader**_**:** I...probably did. I do that sometimes. I understand that, at least; the fact he isn't right because he himself is not abiding by law. Yet... he is creating this new law. I think my dad called him a 'vigilante' before, too, if that means anything. But... in a way, you're right; you really can't wash away blood with blood. But... Light knew that. He knew he was tainting himself... and threw himself away; became that dark thing in order to cleanse... But... yeah, in the end, it's all just opinion, I suppose.  
It is good to have a bit of Near and Anna, isn't it? Unfortunately, for a long time, I just didn't like Near at all, so it was hard to write scenes with him. Glad you enjoyed the debate, though, too~

_**Smokeyuchiha**_**:** Poor Near indeed. And...poor Roger too, I guess. xD And yes, Anna is thirteen. c:

_**The Reading Kind**_**:** My last day is Monday. ovo ...Then there's exams, but, you know. Oh well.  
Yeahh...sometimes even I wanna hug that sheep because of that bit there, and I don't like him as much. I'm getting better, though; really. Though Near looks up to and respects L, though... he can be irritated by him. It's almost like he doesn't like him. xD Terrible, really.  
I personally don't like Near because of his smugness and... well, to me he can sometimes be childishly annoying. Mostly it was his smugness, though. I'm starting to like the guy a little more, though, so that's good... But personally I liked Kira, so I can't say I agree with you there. I do believe, however, that justice won out overall...  
Weeellllll... Real-life Sierra and Real-life Sam have insisted that at least one of the pairings must have children... ...I actually probably shouldn't tell you that. But I'm going to defend myself and say I don't wanna write it. I really don't.  
Oh yes, there'll be another, and another after that! ...But then I think it ends... Yeah.

**Here's your extra chapter, dear readers~**

* * *

B and Sophia sat at a table on the balcony of a costume café, eating their lunch as they looked out upon the many people wandering the streets. There were so many people to choose from; but of course they knew better and would only pick the best of the group. Someone meant to die soon. Tomorrow. And so as Sophia babbled to her supposed older brother, keeping up her façade of a nonsensical and imaginative little girl, B would gaze off into the crowd, his eyes ever searching for the perfect victim. They would find him today. Tomorrow's victim would be decided before sundown.

It was only lunchtime, so it surely wouldn't be all that hard a thing to do. It didn't matter how long he spent in public, really, since he was in disguise and no one that knew him would recognize him. Unless, of course, they had the Sight like B did, but if that were so then he would know they were involved with Kira. How easy. Now, currently he was wearing sunglasses (eyes are a good way to recognize a person, and now no one could tell where he was looking), a casual anime t-shirt and jeans (to blend in, you know), and a silver cross necklace (as an added touch). To everyone else, he seemed like an average teenaged otaku, nothing more. Sophia, on the other hand, wore a stylish pink shirt with a black skirt, a single necklace and multiple bracelets adorning her. A nine-year-old already interested in what was hot and what was not, irritated that her stupid older brother had to watch her that day. They were rather good with disguises.

"Shu!" a high voice called, sickeningly sweet. A waitress popped up to the table in a sailor's outfit, her short blond hair flipping outwards at the bottom. Her eyes were a striking blue. Her name was Ami Hayashi.

Right now, B's name was Shu, and Sophia's name was Mizuki. Of course, to make things seem more realistic, Sophia hated that name and preferred 'Mimi.'

"Ami," B smiled, utterly faking his joy, "are you ready to take mine and Mizuki's orders?"

"I told you; call me _Mimi_!" Sophia snapped.

Ami giggled. "Yes, I'm ready," she said, pulling out her notepad.

"I'll have some miso ramen, and Mizuki here will have the special for today," B informed her, and she nodded, her hair bouncing.

"It's _Mimi_," Sophia reiterated irritably.

"Alright!" Ami chirped. "I'll bring it to you the moment it's ready!"

"Thank you," B replied, and Ami flounced happily away.

Sophia rolled her eyes exaggeratedly and stirred her sweetened tea with a straw. "Why did we come _here_, anyway, Big Brother? It's stupid. I don't like this place."

"Whatever," B responded, taking a swig of his own (overly) sweetened tea. He leaned on the table with one elbow, ignoring Sophia (he knew she was only saying pointless things) as he rested his chin on his hand. He watched through his tinted spectacles as Ami came back out onto the balcony to serve a man who was sitting soundly at a table nearby. She was giving him his check. As the man turned – his back had been facing B – B could see his face. His name was Kenta Gakusha; he was a plump young man. His death day… his due date… was tomorrow. B's mouth twitched as he watched the brown-haired bespectacled man converse with Ami. Sophia kept talking to B, knowing full well he'd found a possible target. Ami bowed slightly, then walked away. Kenta stood, fingering through some yen before leaving the money on the table and proceeding to leave. Never taking his eyes off the target, Beyond got to his feet. "Hey, Mimi, I'll be back," he said to Sophia, his gaze not shifting from Kenta.

"Yeah, yeah, okay," Sophia muttered, then took a sip of her tea through her straw.

B made his way through the people within the costume café, his eyes trained on Kenta. Possibly his next victim. He calculated other possibilities in his head. Kenta was overweight, it looked, enough to have a heart attack. He needed to check his records; see if he had heart problems. He needed to see if his background fit his next clue. Everything would have to fit… like the next piece to place in the puzzle he was creating for his rival. L. B idly wondered if he had figured out the first kill was B yet. He was sure he knew B was out of the hospital, so he had to be expecting something.

Kenta exited the costume café, B following a bit behind. It wasn't hard to blend into the crowd and look unsuspicious. Kenta wouldn't notice him among the many pedestrians surrounding him. Even if he saw he was nearby, to him, B was just another person wandering among the shops.

Kenta turned into a video game shop, and after lagging behind for a minute or so B entered the store with a _ding_. He wandered the aisles, eyeing Kenta out of the corner of his eye. Then he rounded the turn and stopped at the same section as Kenta, scanning the products for sale. Seeing Kenta begin to lean, B reached for the same video game he was. Their hands met, and both of them pulled back as they looked at one another awkwardly. "I'm sorry," said BB. "Go ahead."

"Thanks," Kenta grinned, grabbing the video game. "You like Zelda too?"

B nodded, taking the same video game beneath it. "Of course I do. It's one of the best."

"Too bad there's nothing new this year…," Kenta sighed, running his hand through his greasy hair. "What other video games do you like?"

Beyond shrugged. "I like various RPGs, like Final Fantasy, for example."

"Final Fantasy?" Kenta repeated. "Oh, I _love _Final Fantasy! It's probably my favorite video game of all time. Did you hear the news that the fourteenth one is coming out this fall? September; isn't that great?" He sighed again. "Three months to wait… but I can exercise my patience." He looked at Beyond curiously. "Who's your favorite character?"

"My favorite character?" Beyond asked. Kenta was looking more and more like the perfect person for his job. "Perhaps Sephiroth. He gives a nice challenge." Don't misinterpret this; Beyond had never played the video game. He was winging it on knowledge drawn from Anna's rambling and Sophia's research. At that very moment, Sophia was on the computer at the costume café, looking up Final Fantasy in order to help him know what he was talking about. "Who's your favorite?"

"Tifa," Kenta answered immediately, then paused. "…Or Cloud. Cloud is epic."

B was nodding. "That's nice."

Kenta rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, realizing he'd been acting over-excited. "Sorry," he apologized, "these things… anime, video games, that stuff… I'm a little obsessed. I'm a bit of an otaku, can you tell?"

Beyond smiled at him, which seemed to unnerve Kenta slightly. Oops. "It's fine; everyone has their own obsessions," he assured him. "Besides, aren't we all otakus here?"

"Y…yeah, I guess."

"I'm sorry, let me introduce myself," said B in a friendly tone. "I'm Shu."

"I'm Kenta," said Kenta, bowing slightly. "But… please call me Oobi; that's what my friends call me."

"Alright, Oobi," he said kindly.

Sophia, somewhere else, pulled up Kenta Gakusha's files. He still lived at home with his single mother, there were no heart problems, he worked a part-time job, and he was somewhat of a loner.

He was perfect.

* * *

"Thank you for inviting me for dinner," Matsuda grinned as we drove to my house.

"No problem," I replied. "Besides, having you means I don't have to walk home," I added with a laugh.

Matsuda joined me in my laughter. "That's true," he agreed, then allowed his laugh to transform into a snicker. "So how are you and Light doing?"

I heaved a sigh, looking out the window. "Sam'll just _love _having you over."

"Why?"

I made a gesture with my hand. "She takes pleasure in teasing me. But of course, I tease her right back."

He gave a small laugh. "That makes sense. But really! I'm the gossip guy; has Misa found out yet?"

I twitched involuntarily. "No… and I'm not looking forward to the day she _does_ find out. She'll kill me."

He giggled. "Don't worry, Natsumi, I'm sure Light'll keep you safe."

I frowned at him, and he shrugged innocently.

"Hey, even if he can't and Misa's wrath is too much for one man to handle, _I'll _be there to protect you; you have my word!"

I laughed again at that. "Well, thank you, Matsu."

"Well, no problem." He grinned. "Ooh, Light's gonna be in _trouble _once Misa finds out," he sang.

"Still, it isn't like Light is cheating on her…," I pointed out. "Light ended his relationship with her soon after he lost his memories."

"That won't matter," said Matsuda. "Misa still loves Light and believes that one day he'll come back to her. It's sad, really…." His eyes darkened. "That stupid Death Note. It really is too bad that she was used all that time…."

I nodded. "At least she's not being lied to anymore."

He giggled again. "But she doesn't know her Light has found someone else, and once she knows…." He didn't finish the sentence, but let its implications hang in the air, unsaid.

"Yeah," I said. "Bad things. Misa's wrath."

He did his giggle-laugh thing yet again. "Hehe, you remember what happened when Takada came into the picture. Hoho, you better be prepared, Natsumi!"

"Don't worry, Matsuda, I will," I smiled.

There was a small pause. "You know…" he said, looking away and seeming slightly awkward, "…you _can _call me Touta. We've known each other for years by now…."

"Touta," I repeated, seeing how the name felt in my mouth. It was so weird saying that instead of 'Matsuda' or 'Matsu.' It was the honor and respect in Japan that created the whole 'last name' thing, and to call someone by their first name would mean them actually being a friend rather than a business partner or a superior. Plus, by now, Matsuda was just _Matsuda _to me. It was the name my mind had labeled him with, and Touta sounded like someone completely different. "Hm. Well… Touta… I'll try to do that. I feel special now," I beamed. "Though I do know you as Matsu or Matsuda by this point, I'll make it a point in my mind to try and call you Touta from now on. Though… it is weird after all this time." I laughed.

"That's true," he said, grinning along with me.

"Which do you like better; Touta or Matsuda?"

He shrugged. "It doesn't really matter, but only close friends can call me Touta."

I smiled. "Got it."

We turned into my driveway as we reached my house. "Here we are," he smiled, and we parked.

* * *

"I want that chocolate," said Sierra flatly. Mello didn't respond. There was silence for a few seconds. "…I _really _want that chocolate."

"Will you be quiet for a little bit?" he frowned. "I know Near is waiting for _my _move, so I have to figure out how to catch him off-guard instead of help him. Let me think."

"But… but I want the _chocolate_…."

"You always want the chocolate."

"If you don't give me that chocolate," she said seriously, "I will streak around the house."

Mello looked at her oddly.

Matt snickered. "How do you know that'll be a _punishment_?"

"You shut up, Matt!" Sierra snapped. "You know perfectly well how awkward it would be if I were just running around this hideout naked."

He seemed to consider this. "Well, yeah, that's true, but wouldn't it be more awkward for you than anyone else? If that's punishment for anyone, it's for _you_."

Sierra was about to reply, but contemplated this and frowned. "…Oh."

Matt scoffed. "Yeah. '_Oh._'"

"Well—well I'll just take it again then!"she proclaimed, making a move to snatch it out of Mello's hand again. He only lifted his arm so the chocolate was out of reach. "No! My chocolate!" She got to her feet, but Mello only moved his arm back, yet again out of Sierra's reach. "_Nooo!_" she wailed, pouncing on him to reach the beautiful chocolate bar.

"What the hell—?! _Get off me!_"

"No! Give me the _chocolate_!"

"No!"

Matt took one look at their position and snickered again. "Nice pose, there, guys," he remarked, taking note of how Sierra was practically on top of the chocoholic as she reached for the chocolate.

Both of them looked to him, Mello looking incredibly irritated, and Sierra looked down at herself before immediately shoving her hands against the couch to push herself away from Mello. She landed on the floor with a dull thud. "_Matt!_" she snapped, getting to her feet.

"Hey, hey, I was just throwing in my two cents," Matt said peacefully.

Sierra slapped him square in the face; hard. It left a red mark.

"…Ow," Matt commented.

Mello smirked ever so slightly; Sierra knew he was amused.

"You know," said Matt, "that wasn't even my fault. You got into that position on your own."

"Don't _tease me_," she scowled. "Besides, I was only trying to get the chocolate!"

"_Riiight…._"

Sierra narrowed her eyes threateningly.

"Okay," he said, holding up his hands in defeat, "I'll stop."

She smiled sweetly, bouncing over to her spot on the floor. "Thank you!" she chirped.

"Besides," he said, returning to his game, "at some point, I won't even need to tease you. It'll all just happen, 'cause I know it will."

Sierra's fist was flung into his face.

"Hey, watch the goggles!"

* * *

Anna sat awkwardly on a chair in SPK headquarters, idly watching Near build some kind of structure; a city of dice. Gevanni wasn't in headquarters; he was watching Misa. Rester was off placing wiretaps in Light's apartment, in hopes of catching him talking to the shinigami or something along those lines. Halle was off getting necessities and new toy supplies at the store, since Rester was doing his own thing. This left only Anna and Near, and after what had happened that Tuesday, it was a little bit awkward. Or, at least, it was for Anna.

"Um…," said Anna hesitantly, "…can I help?" She fidgeted uncomfortably, unable to keep still and still feeling awkward.

"I don't see why not," Near responded, not pausing in his building.

Anna blinked, then slowly made her way down to the floor to aid Near in building his large-scale structure of dice. She noticed a pattern in how the dice were placed, and so made it a point in her mind to follow that pattern. She wouldn't want to mess up his work. They worked in silence, each naturally keeping their distance from the other; for Anna it was out of discomfort, for Near it was just him. The only thing that took up the silence was the clicking of the dice as they were placed. Near would place his down one by one, the clicks following his movements rhythmic. Anna was slightly off-beat; slower, but she still got the job done.

Then, "You know…," Anna said, her voice quiet so as to not disrupt the silence too abruptly.

"Yes, Anna?" Near replied. The rhythm of the dice did not falter.

"Um, Tuesday night… don't take that personally." She looked down at her hands and frowned deeply. "I get mad sometimes, and I hate it. You're still my favorite and I still like you. I just wanted to let you know that." She continued staring at her hands, her eyes fixed on a single point. Then she noticed that the clicking had stopped, and she looked up to see Near looking at her with that creepy smile on his face.

I mean, the one that supposedly made him look like a cute monkey.

"I appreciate that," he said eventually, his smile gone as he resumed in building his city.

There was another pause where only the clicking permeated the stillness.

"Near?" Anna asked.

"Yes?"

"Er, do you remember… what happened when you went to the hospital?" She had never been sure if he remembered that; after all, he'd been kinda loopy from the sedatives and he'd never mentioned it afterwards.

"Yes," he said easily, like it was nothing, continuing in his building project.

Anna was the one who faltered, blinking a few times before she asked, "You do?"

"Yes. I was out of it, but I remember." Then he paused in both speech and movement, tilting his head slightly. "It's odd," he said, carrying on the motion. "I didn't think I was the type to do anything like that, in any circumstance."

She blinked again. "…Yeah. But then… people can change…. Right?"

"Yes. That's true."

They lapsed into silence again, and Anna eyed his dormant hand, which was resting on the linoleum floor. Slowly, hesitantly, she reached out for it. Paused. Then placed her hand on his as she recommenced with her building. She tensed slightly as she did so, however, fully expecting Near to move his hand.

He didn't pull away.

* * *

_It could be B…_, L thought to himself as he scanned through the police records of Sayuri Sakamoto's case. _In fact, it's most likely B…._ It was late, and Sam sat right beside him on the couch, determined to stay up as late as he did. (Though, it was too small to be a couch; it was more of a loveseat.) I mean, Sam knew she could pull an all-nighter. Right? So what if she knew everything that happened to L while she was sleeping? It was more of a dream than anything, and was therefore harder to remember. She wanted to think right along with him when it came to B. B had tried to kill her more than once, and almost succeeded the first time. It would be a lie if she said that she didn't want him caught. Or dead. Dead would work too.

So they scanned the files together in silence; looked at the map of Tokyo that was in Sayuri's hand, contemplated the meaning of the note, read through the results of the interview of her twin sister, conjectured as to why B might pick a girl named the same as Sam's alias…. Then they tried to figure out some sort of pattern he was following, or a clue left behind. _She was found on the thirty-first…_, L thought. _Could it be that he's using the same pattern as during the Los Angeles BB Murder Cases? But… no… that would be too obvious…._ He sighed lightly, then eyed the covered platter on the table on the other end of the room. His cake sat beneath its cover.

He looked at Sam. She was sound asleep. The corners of his mouth curved upwards ever so slightly at the peaceful look on her face, then the expression disappeared again as he carefully began to get to his feet while also trying not to disturb Sam. His goal was the cake. His obstacle was the sleeping Sam. He wouldn't want to wake her…. So, very slowly, he got to his feet. Sam stirred. L froze, halfway to his feet, as Sam shifted. Her arm reached out and grabbed his, pulling him backwards. He sat down again because of this, actually sitting like a normal person, as Sam cuddled into his arm in her sleep. She breathed a small sigh.

L looked out to the cake, calling to him. He looked to Sam, snuggled against his side. He sighed, leaning back on the couch-thing. He rested his head on the back cushion and decidedly stayed that way, hoping in vain for Sam to move. Oh well, he didn't mind it anyway. It just meant no cake for him….

Later on, very early in the morning, Roger entered the hotel room to find Sam and L on the couch, both of them sound asleep. Sam was snuggled into his side, and L's head was resting on Sam's shoulder. Roger just sorta looked at the two of them a moment, silently surprised that L was actually sleeping. Then, he smiled slightly and left the room, closing the door softly behind him.

* * *

_**Fluff everywhere!**_** ...Yeah.**

_**Fun Fact**_**: Kenta Gakusha reminds me of the adorably weird, childish genius from the anime movie _Paprika_...and I don't know why.**

**Review? For _fluff_. ...Or Final Fantasy~**


	9. Chapter 9

_**The Reading Kind**_**: **Well, Sierra...can't. A pregnant woman shouldn't be on the run, along with gunfights and the like. So, it's either Sam or Natalie in that case. And trust me, I've tried very hard to scrap it, but Real-life Sam and Real-life Sierra are incredibly persistent. In the end, when it comes to their desires, I have no choice... Unless it's something plainly silly.  
I will of course give BB a hug for you! Poor Kenta, though... He's just a fanboy, really. I think all of us here can have some kind of connection with him, really, considering this place is a gathering of otakus. Ahh...  
Yeahh... I don't know why Matsuda's still single either. ...And I don't like him that way as well, so...  
Ahh, fluff is nice every so often, eh? Ohoho, Sam is a lucky girl indeed~  
I do believe I'll be fine. School is over, technically, now. There are only exams left. Awayyy!

_**Reader**_**: **Hoh? There's two of you?  
Ahh, yes, fluff is wonderful in its fluffy fluffness of fluff.

_**BB**_**: **Okay...I'm sorry, but the nickname you chose happens to be the one nickname Real-life Sam absolutely despises, haha. I even asked her, and she responded with a blunt and irate '_no_.' But I'm sure she still wants to be be friend, and she'd love visits from you. Just... calling her Sammy is a no, sorry. It'll have to be a different nickname if you'd like to give her one.  
Oho, what a way to put it; we who creep others out simply have great minds. How lovely~  
He _is _adorable, isn't he? Ahh, you're adorable too, BB! I'd honestly love to see that, haha. Don't blame me if you find yourself being tickled by me (or by an accomplice whom I wouldn't mind being tortured). C:  
You know, that explains a lot. Really, it does. One may wonder how you came to know so much about L when you never met him... Hm. Though I didn't expect you to be jealous of something like L's hair. ...Admittedly, his hair is amazing, though; worth being jealous of. It's, like, the ultimate hair. Oddly enough, though, I prefer your hair.  
Your parents called you Mimi? Huh. What a coincidence, then... Alright, you have yet again managed to surprise me, BB. I honestly didn't expect you to be the man to cross-dress, though I suppose you do have the legs for it, eh? You never cease to intrigue me, BB~  
Ahh, it seems I am more awkward than I might seem. I...am too awkward for my own good. I simply have trouble often when trying to interact with humans. It's as simple as that. I suppose I could make the first move if I felt absolutely nothing for that person (which admittedly does happen a lot), but that would just be cruel. So... There we are. I'm awkward. This is a fact. And I couldn't tell if a human liked me if I tried, either, haha.  
You do! I can tell your heart is a wonderful thing, dear.  
Ohoho~ I could actually translate that in my own head~ It seems I know more Japanese than I thought~ I am actually very happy about this. The only thing not understood is the 'Dewa, mata,' bit. Something also? Ahh, well, of course, dear sir. The jam's all yours~

_**Guest**_**: **Ahh, the fluff was nice, eh? I'm glad you liked it. c: I don't know if I can add in AnnaNear scenes where there aren't any... but I've been writing more lately, if that counts. Ahh... Sorry.

** Whelp, it seems we get a glimpse of L's past, here, dear readers~**

* * *

"_Daddy," he protested, "I don't want to go to Uncle's house." He was four now. Almost a year had passed since Mommy's death, and Daddy had never been the same afterwards. He spent more time at work; working long hours in order to pay for food and all the necessities. He wouldn't spend as much time with him, and that made him a bit sad. He hated that Mommy had had to leave, but it was simply unfair that Daddy should leave too. That wasn't the way things worked, he'd thought, but now he understood. He understood that death came as a part of life, and he understood that just because that person wasn't there didn't mean they didn't still affect the world or the people within it. It was a sort of legacy, he guessed he could say. And in any death there was a circle of darkness left behind; or that's how he liked to think of it as. The people sad for the loss (for anyone who cares would be sad, even if they rejoiced that the one mourned was free of this harsh life). Then there were the people that understood more because of it. Actually grasped the reality of death. Or maybe there was someone with guilt. Regret. Resentment. Those sorts of things. He was a little bit of every type of person within this circle._

_Daddy frowned down at him, regret shining in his eyes as he told him softly, "I'm sorry, but I have work to do, and I can't very well leave you here alone." He smiled at him reassuringly and put his hand on his head, ruffling his hair. "Come on, little guy, you can stand being with Uncle for a few days."_

_He looked up at his father with blank eyes, careful to hide any frustration. "I guess I _can_," he admitted, "but I _really _don't want to, Daddy. I like you better. And… Uncle isn't very nice." He knew not to tell Daddy about the games Uncle liked to play. He thought maybe there was something wrong with him, because humans simply shouldn't like the thought of another human's pain. It wasn't right. Right? But he couldn't ask Daddy about it because Auntie would always tell him not to. And he actually liked Auntie. She was nice. He didn't understand why Uncle hurt her, too. I mean, he could see a few of his own flaws, and sometimes he could almost say Uncle had a reason to hurt him. He didn't see anything wrong with Auntie, though…._

_Daddy laughed, but he was starting to notice when it was strained or fake. It sounded hollower ever since Mommy left. "Uncle_ is_ mean sometimes," his father admitted, "but he means well."_

"_Not all the time," he replied honestly._

_Daddy smiled slightly, his eyes sad, then pulled him into a hug, holding him tight. He hugged back, his little hands clinging to Daddy's shirt. He had the feeling neither of them wanted to let the other go. "I love you, my little genius," Daddy said. Mommy used to call him that, too, when she noticed how quickly he understood things, and so he closed his eyes and held Daddy tighter. "You'll only have to be with Uncle for a little while."_

_He took note of the fact that he could sense the sincerity in his father's tone, and marked it off in his head to always remember that Daddy loved him, no matter where he went. He could stand Uncle, for Daddy and for Auntie and for Mommy, even though she was gone. And knowing that Daddy loved him made him happy, even though he did, in fact, already know it. But he knew one day Daddy would be gone too, so he didn't cling to that too much. He was all too aware every friend he made, every loved one he had, would be lost, and so he distanced himself. Despite this, he wanted to make sure Daddy knew. "I love you too, Daddy," he told him in a soft, small voice, and burrowed his face into his father's shirt. Daddy squeezed tighter for a moment, then released him. Let him go._

_Uncle awaited him._

Sam's eyes flickered open to morning light. And L. Of course that was the first thing she saw, and she felt her face grow hot as she realized she probably fell asleep on the couch the night before, which was why she woke up to see L right beside her again. She'd had a dream, so she knew L had also fallen into slumber. When he was awake, she'd see only his point of view, sometimes with a fleeting memory. But when he slept, they dreamed together; so far of only memories. Little bits of L's past that were typically important to him but discarded all the same, because L was a Wammy kid and Wammy children are taught to get rid of the past and shed their identity.

L's eyes were open, as of course he awoke the same moment she did, and he looked down at her a moment before shifting slightly. Sam moved, and he stood. Sam smiled. He just wanted that cake he couldn't get to the night before, of course. With a sigh, she sat up and stretched. "Good morning, world," she greeted, while L stuck a forkful of cake into his mouth.

* * *

"Another murder?" I inquired, and Aizawa nodded.

Matsuda groaned. "Just great…. It's a serial killer…."

"We don't know for sure yet whether it's the same killer," Aizawa reminded him, flipping open the file of this murder. "The victim was Kenta Gakusha, a man in his twenties." He set out a file with a picture of a plump, brown-haired man with glasses. He had a childish, happy smile and a glint in his eyes. He laid out another picture, of the crime scene. "He was found in the Akihabara district. He works a part-time job at a shop there, and his boss found him in the alley beside the store after he went out to look for him when he was late for work."

I looked at Kenta's body. There was a slash across his chest, and there was a cut on his temple that left dried blood to cake the side of his face. His eyes were still open, though the glint in them was gone. Again, there was writing on the walls.

_PURGE_

Did he honestly think he was purging the world of the bad? What was so horrible about this kid? A cancerous teen and what seemed to be a common otaku; what was this idiot thinking? Yes, I'd like to see him dead. I liked the thought of seeing his name written in fresh black ink within the pages of the Death Note. Hell, I liked the idea of my own hand deciding his death in ebony. (And it wouldn't matter if it was Light or I, because it would be the same either way. Both of us would feel the pen in our hands and so we would both feel the satisfaction as the name was written.)

"There was a camera also found in the alley," Aizawa continued. "It was presumably Gakusha's. It was on when it was found, frozen on a specific image." He laid out a picture of said image on the camera screen; a newspaper article. The main point was to say how many people were obsessed. Too much so. "As Gakusha was an otaku himself, there was no point of him taking this picture. It must have been the murderer…." Then, he pulled out a picture of a wall with what seemed to be a blue triangle painted on its surface. "On the opposite wall," he said, "this was found."

"What the hell is he trying to tell us with a blue triangle…?" Ide asked dully, frowning.

"Maybe the next murder will happen in that direction," Matsuda suggested. "Maybe it's like an arrow."

"I don't think so, Matsuda," Light replied. "That would be too obvious for this guy. Besides, can't you tell he's trying to tell us where to go next? He's giving us clues; challenging us. An arrow is too general; it doesn't actually tell us where to look."

"Although," I added, "it _is _pointing west, so it might mean somewhere in Shinjuku…. But really, it would be too plaintive and general…. It's good thinking, Matsuda; just not the right way to go about it."

"Oh…," Matsuda responded.

"Ide," said Aizawa, "you can check the crime scene this time. Light and Mogi, you will go to interview Gakusha's mother." He handed Mogi the address. "Then Natalie and Matsuda, you two will go to Akihabara and talk to Gakusha's boss, the man who found him." He handed Matsuda a paper. "That's where Gakusha worked, you should find him there. Be sure to be efficient with your work; it's Friday and none of us want to work into Saturday."

There were sounds of acceptance and agreements from the group, and we dispersed. I found myself again chatting happily with Matsuda as we headed to his car. "Looks like we're going to Akihabara after all!" Matsuda grinned. "How funny, I mentioned that to you last time we went to the crime scene…."

I cocked an eyebrow as I stepped out of the elevator with him. "You're not the murderer, are you?"

He blinked. "Of course not, Natsumi!"

I smiled. "That's good."

He saw I'd been teasing, so he smiled with me. "You're not the murderer either, right?" he shot back, smiling playfully.

"Nope!" I chirped. _Not in this case, anyway._

He giggle-laughed. We didn't talk much for a bit, but as we neared his car he said, "You know, you should get yourself a driver's license. Get a car."

I shrugged. "It doesn't really seem all that necessary at the moment." I got into the passenger side as he slid into the driver's seat.

"Then Light should get himself a car," he decided, nodding to himself. "Then he could drive you around like a man should to wherever you'd like."

"I'd honestly rather walk," I said with another shrug. We pulled out of the parking lot.

"Oh, I guess that makes sense." He giggled again. "Well, now he can walk with you like a _gentleman_, right?"

I quirked an eyebrow at him. "_Sure_…." I pursed my lips. "And even if it's too far for me to just walk, I can take the bus. It's not really all that necessary to get a car quite yet." I tilted my head slightly. "It's weird, 'cause I didn't exactly grow up in a city like this. I probably would have needed a car by now if I were still in the same situation. But then… I guess that if I'd never come here I'd be in college at this point, too…."

"Well, think of it this way," said Matsuda brightly. "You didn't have to go to college at all to go through all the work because L made you that degree to permit you into the NPA."

"Plus," I added, "with how far I am in the mind sync, all of the things Light learned in school I know now, even though I technically didn't get an education past ninth grade. It makes me wonder… wonder about how the people I knew are doing. Wonder how they responded to me going missing. People like Sarah and Natalia will miss both Sam and I, I think…. I wonder how my mom and dad are."

"I guess the worst part would be not knowing, huh?" he asked, looking at me.

"I guess," I responded. "The funny thing is, I don't really mind staying here. I don't necessarily want to go back."

"Well, that's good," Matsuda said matter-of-factly. "A lot of the people here would miss you. You've been here so long; you're practically one of us now." He grinned. "And to think all those years ago, I barely knew you. You were so quiet when you first got on the task force, I never would have guessed you were this fun. I honestly thought you were shy."

"It wasn't that I was shy," I said, "it's just that I was afraid to mess anything up. I had a plan, and if I changed something, it might not have gone as planned." I chuckled. "But of course that plan failed anyway, so what does it matter?" I paused, tilting my head. "Light's about to call you," I informed him.

"What?" he asked, and his phone rang. "Oh. Uh…." He fished around in his pocket, eyes always on the road. "That's so weird how you do that…," he muttered, then pulled the cell out and flipped it open, holding it to his ear. "Hello?"

I closed my eyes. I knew both halves of the conversation, even though I could technically only hear Matsuda. Light and Mogi had already reached Gakusha's house, and had talked to his mom. She said that Kenta had made a somewhat suspicious friend named Shu last Wednesday, two days ago. Kenta had been to a few places in Akihabara that day, and Light was telling us to check out these places and ask some people if they knew who Shu was. That was the gist of it.

As we had already reached Akihabara, a bustling district full of otakus, we changed our route slightly to go to the costume café that Gakusha had gone to the day he supposedly met Shu. It didn't take long to get there, and soon we were walking into the café to be greeted by a smiling, handsome young man in a suit. He had black, fluffy hair and held an empty tray in the crook of his arm. He looked for all the world like Sebastian Michaelis from _Kuroshitsuji_.

It scared the crap out of me.

"Good morning, Master," he greeted, then bowed slightly to Matsuda. "Mistress," he added, bowing to me before gripping my hand gently and kissing it lightly. He straightened up. "How may I help you?" he asked, smiling sweetly. His voice was deep but smooth.

Matsuda looked confused. "I thought costume cafés and restaurants had girls dressed up, not guys."

He smiled at Matsuda. "I apologize. You haven't been here before. This café is both a maid and butler restaurant, so it appeals to both male and female otakus alike. I am Seiya, your current butler."

"Does Black Butler exist in this world?" I asked blankly.

It was Seiya's turn to look confused. "Pardon me?"

"I'll take that as a no," I mumbled, crossing my arms over my chest.

"May I take you to your table?" he asked politely.

"No," said Matsuda, and Seiya raised his eyebrows. "Sorry," he apologized, "but we're here for police work."

"Police work?" Seiya repeated, curious.

He nodded. "Does a guy named Kenta Gakusha come here often?"

"Yes, of course. He's a regular customer."

"Do you know who served him on Tuesday of this week?"

"No, but I can look it up. Please follow me." He began leading us away to the back of the lobby-thing to get a book of sorts. He flipped through it for a bit before saying, "Ah, right here. On June second, Kenta was served by Ami. Would you like me to get her for you?"

"Yes, please," Matsuda replied, and Seiya bowed, smiling at me before heading through a door. Matsuda smirked. "You think he likes you?"

I rolled my eyes. "Matsuda, you _do _know that they're paid to act nice to people of the opposite gender specifically, right?"

"Well, whatever. You've got Light already. If he asks you out you can just tell him you're already taken."

I sighed, shaking my head. "Besides, I never liked Sebastian much anyway."

He blinked. "Who?"

"Never mind."

The door burst open to reveal a bubbly, happy girl with short hair that was dyed blond. Her eyes were blue. She was dressed as a French maid, topped with the fact she was sporting cat ears. Matsuda froze, slowly turning red as he gawked. "Hello!" she greeted brightly. "I'm Ami," she said, pointing to herself and giggling. "I'm the one who served Kenta on Tuesday. He's so sweet. Now who are you two?" She giggled again.

"I'm Natsumi, and this is Matsui," I told her with a smile. "I just have a few questions regarding Kenta."

"Go right ahead!"

"Thank you. First off, was there a guy named Shu at this restaurant on Tuesday?"

She looked up a moment, putting her index finger to her bottom lip. "Umm… yeah!" She looked at me again. "There was a guy named Shu here; he was cute." She giggled yet again. "He was sitting at the table right by Kenta with his little sister Mimi."

"Could you describe Shu?" I asked, pulling out a notepad and a pen.

"Oh, hmm…. He had black, fluffy hair," she began, fluffing her hair to demonstrate. She continued making gestures as she went on. "He had these sunglasses…. He wore an anime t-shirt and some jeans. He was pale, but I could tell he had muscle. Maybe he works out," she added thoughtfully.

"Uh, the black hair matches Ship," Matsuda pointed out, sounding a bit distracted.

"That's true," I agreed, scribbling the details down, "but a lot of people have black hair in Tokyo."

"Yeah… and then… Ship was tan, right?"

"Yep."

"Shu is pale."

"Mm-hmm…. It could be he put on a spray-tan or something," I shrugged. "But then, we don't know if they're the same person."

"Right…."

"Um, can I ask what you're talking about?" asked Ami.

"Kenta Gakusha was murdered last night," I informed her, and her eyes went wide. "Shu might be the culprit."

"But… Shu didn't even talk to Kenta."

Matsuda and I looked at one another. I ran through possibilities in my head. "Well," I said to Matsuda, "if they were sitting nearby each other but they didn't interact, they didn't necessarily meet here."

"So then…" said Matsuda, "…how—?"

"They had to have met somewhere else. Or, most likely, Shu found his target here and followed him to wherever he went next." I paused. "Well, if he's the killer, anyway. Otherwise it's just coincidence." I looked to Ami and pulled a card out of my pocket. "Call us if anything happens, or if Shu comes back in here, okay?"

She nodded. "Poor Kenta…."

I smiled sadly. "Yeah. Poor Kenta."

* * *

**_Fun Fact_: The moment I discovered there were fancy butlers at costume cafés, I just _had _to put a Sebastian-like character in there. Yet... I actually don't like Sebastian all that much. xD I'm weird. I like him a bit more now, though.  
**

**Review? For Sebastian!**


	10. Chapter 10

_**Random**_**: **Ship... well, since it isn't directly revealed in the story, I can tell you Ship is really just BB in disguise. Sorry if you were hoping for something more interesting, haha. Ahh, I've gotta love Matsu~ Ooh, happy to amuse you at all, dear reader~

**_The Reading Kind_: **Poor child L indeed... At that age, yeah, that's what a lot of kids are like unless they have an event like that in their life. I myself was the same... just... anxietal about death; extremely anxietal. Turned out I still hadn't grasped it, though, so I was pretty normal in my own right, too.  
Matsuda is perfect comic relief. He just is.  
Pfft, no, it's not a fanservice anime. xD It's actually a rather dark anime, and it's one of my favorite anime. In my top five, in fact. I'd definitely suggest it. c:  
I don't know Tales of the Abyss... Hm... Natalia; did I mention her last chapter? Apparently so. Well, she'll be mentioned later, so wheee. She likes Kaito. xD  
Oh, trust me. I _always _get back. Muhaha.

**_Amy_: **Sad, isn't it? Poor Kenta... Ahh, but of course I had to put Sebastion in there somewhere. xD

**Okay...um... double update! Sorry for not saying so yesterday, but I just decided this now. And why? Because this week contained the last day of classes for me. So...yay!**

**Enjoy the extra chapter~**

* * *

"You know, L, you really are gonna drop dead one day because you don't eat right or sleep well," Anna informed said detective that night, at dinner.

"It's Near that'll die of malnutrition," Sam responded. "Worry about him."

"Besides, I do believe I had my fair share of sleep last night," L added.

"Really?" asked Light, lifting a piece of food with his chopsticks.

"Yes, really," Sam retorted.

"On a bed?" asked Anna excitedly. "On a real bed?"

"No…," Sam replied.

"On a couch," L told her.

"Oh," said Anna. "But still!"

"It _is _something," I agreed. "Now all we need is to get you to eat something other than sweets."

"No thank you," L responded, then popped an apple slice that had been dipped in caramel into his mouth.

"He's… eating my apples," said Ryuk, his hands outstretched. "You—you'll get more, right Natalie?"

I smiled slightly. As a note, it should be said that Ryuk was staying with me, Misa, and Sierra interchangeably because of the fact Light had discovered his house had been broken into the day before. He figured there were only wiretaps because Ryuk couldn't find any cameras, but Ryuk got bored being unable to talk with him, so he mostly stayed with Sierra, Misa, and I. Mostly Misa. He just happened to be here now so he could watch the show of the five of us eating dinner.

Maybe he'd catch L pretending to be Batman again.

"So, wait," I said, "why, exactly, didn't you come home last night?" I asked Sam. "I mean… you said you were working on the Kira case all night. If L was sleeping, what were _you_ doing there all night?"

"…I fell asleep," she muttered.

"What," said Anna, "did both of you wake up to find you were cuddling?"

Sam went red, unable to get a response out.

"No," L responded easily, dipping another slice in caramel.

"You know," Anna pointed out, "you two practically live together at this point. You should get married."

I sputtered with laughter as Sam only got redder.

"I'm not the marrying type, if you couldn't tell," L replied coolly. "If that changes, then maybe, but until then, we will stay the way we are."

"…Wait, what?" Sam yelped.

L popped a slice into his mouth. " 'What' what, Samantha?" he asked, his mouth full.

"Interaction!" I cried in delight, then laughed. "I love you, L."

"Really? Thank you."

Anna giggled.

Sam tried to recover, looking at me with determined eyes. "Well, Anna, what about Natalie and Light?"

"What about them?" Anna asked blankly.

"You know," Sam replied vaguely, making a gesture with her hand.

I quirked an eyebrow. She wasn't going to get back at me like that.

"I do believe she means marriage," L explained, then licked some caramel off of an apple slice.

"Well, they're already married, I thought," said Anna.

I choked as Sam looked at her for a second. Then she laughed.

"What?" I cried.

"We… aren't," said Light. "There wasn't…. Anna, to be honest, that doesn't make sense."

"Yeah," I agreed. "How are we _married_? He doesn't even live here. Sam and L are closer to that than _we _are!"

Sam only continued laughing.

Anna tilted her head, still looking at me. "…You just are."

I sighed, facepalming. "Okay then. Because that makes so much sense."

"It works for me!" Sam laughed. "I don't care if it makes sense or not!"

Light only raised an eyebrow at Anna as he continued to eat his food.

"Well, that's a twist," Ryuk remarked. "I thought humans had to live together to be married…. And isn't there some sort of ritual?"

_Typically, Ryuk, _I thought, _they _do _have to live together. And yes, there is a ceremony._ "So when's your marriage to Near?" I asked Anna dully.

"Never," she answered matter-of-factly.

"Anna, you're no fun," Sam huffed.

"Sorry," Anna frowned. "Near is my teddy bear, and nothing else."

A pause. "Aww!" Sam cried.

"What? He is!"

"It's so cute!"

"No it's not!"

"Anna," I interrupted, "you and Near are cute together. It is a fact. Leave it alone."

Anna opened her mouth to protest, but Sam spoke first. "Actually, it can be kinda creepy. You and Light, however, are cute and _not _creepy."

I furrowed my brow. "Hardly. You and L are cute, though."

"_Nooo_," Sam disagreed.

I pursed my lips. "Yeah… you're right…. You and L are… _sweet_." I laughed. "It's perfect!"

Sam huffed, then irritatedly continued to eat her food.

"Hm," L commented, then licked more caramel off of his apple slice.

* * *

_Akihabara,_ L realized, looking closer at the picture of the map Sayuri Sakamoto had held clutched in her hand. It was still the darkness of early morning. _The next victim was in Akihabara. There was a smudge right where the next victim would be located… but it was likely passed off as a trick of the light. Nothing to worry about. But it was really telling us exactly where the next murder would be. _L smiled slightly, intrigued, as he placed his thumb on his lower lip. _It's like the Los Angeles BB Murder Cases all over again._

He pulled up an image of the note on the back of the map and examined it. _Then… it mentions the location in the second paragraph of the note. It talks about a costume café… and… '…going to Tokyo…' '…travel all around….' All of the murders will take place in Tokyo, jumping around to his next crime scene. If there's a pattern with that, I don't know it yet…._

_Now, the rest of the note…. Does it have meaning in it? The first paragraph only talks about her sickness, undoubtedly her cancer. And then a sickness in society. Perhaps his act here is to kill off people that don't serve any purpose to society…. The second victim, Kenta Gakusha, was a loner without much of a job that was obsessive over his manga, anime, and video games. Is that the pattern here? Sickness, obsession… two worries of society. Maybe that's the point. To draw the public's attention and therefore draw my own because of the fact he's trying to copy Kira through murder, the very thing Kira is against. …Despite the fact Kira murders millions of people…._

_The third paragraph… it talks about people close to you… people who end up becoming a part of you…. The Bond? So… in his case… Sophia? Or perhaps Samantha? What is he trying to say here? He can't be trying to kill Samantha because he can't have me killed…. Unless… unless he's found a loophole. _L bit his thumbnail. _But that's unlikely. Hm…._

He pulled up the files of Kenta Gakusha's murder. _The clues B left here… the image of the news article and the blue triangle painted on the wall opposite Gakusha. The word _purge _on the wall written in blood wasn't so much a clue as it was an added touch. Like the Wara Ningyo in the Los Angeles BB Murder Cases. The newspaper article matches up with the idea of the problems of society. Is that what decides his victim, then, I wonder? But then, so far, the two problems seem to be at random, jumping from sickness to obsession…. How can one tell what's next? There must be a pattern…. Then, the blue triangle. As the reason was already stated, it makes sense that this would be the clue for the next location, but… what could a blue triangle have to do with anything…?_

_Lastly, there is the question of the pattern of time…. The first kill was discovered on the thirty-first, then the most recent one was found on the fourth…. It seems to be following the very pattern of the LABB Murder Cases…. It's just that it doesn't seem right because it seems too obvious for it to be B…. He normally wouldn't do one pattern twice. Is there some twist I'm missing here…? _He tilted his head slightly as he continued gazing at the screen. _Well, I suppose I'll find out soon enough. I'll catch B again…. _The corner of his mouth curved upward ever so slightly. _Now the problem is the fact I'm also on the Kira case. How interesting._

_I like a challenge._

* * *

"Now," I greeted, walking into the no-longer-abandoned home that Mikami dwelled in, "how've you been?" I took note of the fact that the place was even more cleaned up than it had been before. Mikami had to do _something _with his time, after all, and he always was a bit of a neat freak.

Mikami looked up from a book he'd been reading, sitting at his table. "I'm doing much better," he informed me, placing a bookmark in his book and flipping it shut with a small _thup_. "I'm adjusting to this lifestyle…."

"That's good," I told him with a nod.

"How are things on your end?" he asked me.

I shrugged, setting my lunch on the table and sitting across from him. "Things are doing fine. There aren't necessarily any new developments…." Mikami only nodded. I'd kept him up-to-date the past month, and so there wasn't really anything to tell. I'd call him occasionally just to keep him updated, but today I was keeping him company by visiting for lunch. I bought some simple takeout food for the both of us; it was easy and relatively inexpensive.

I set out his food, a simple sandwich, then pulled out my own lunch, and we ate together in silence for a few minutes. I knew Mikami wasn't the talkative type, but every human needs interaction and, as he had no company, I decided to strike up the conversation. It didn't matter how much he responded, as long as he had someone to listen to. "You know, I do respect you in your own right," I told him, and took another bite of food.

"I can't see why you would," he answered, not so much as looking at me.

"Well, you're worthy enough to receive our notebook and our trust, aren't you?" I pointed out.

"Being worthy of such things does not necessarily earn your respect. God… Light… chose me because I was knowledgeable and I fit his needs. I have a sense of justice to go with the ideologies of Kira, and I have to say I've enjoyed serving justice since I was a child. It was an honor to be chosen by God…." He frowned. "It's truly unfortunate that I let him down anyway."

"Don't say that," I reprimanded. "We've been over this a number of times. The past is the past, and you should leave it there."

"That's true," he agreed.

The quiet returned, and I sighed. It would be hard to keep up a conversation with him. A smile ghosted over my lips. _Just like conversations with another man I used to know, _I mused, thinking of the way L had once been. He was better now, though still blunt. Then, of course, there was Near…. But then, I don't think Mikami would appreciate being compared to either of them. Especially Near.

"Did you ever feel bad for your mother's death?" I asked honestly.

He stopped mid-bite and looked at me.

"I know your past," I said with a wave of my hand, then tapped my temple. "I'm from the other world, remember?"

He nodded in understanding and replied, "No."

I raised my eyebrows.

"She stood against me, she was wrong, and she was nothing. She had no sense of justice. She told me to stop standing against evil; it was wrong. She is nothing to me, and I almost consider it a blessing that she was killed. I'll admit her death scared me at first, but that's only to be expected in the fact that I was no more than a child."

"Hm," I responded, my gaze drifting down to the table. "Mikami…" I said, "…she was only trying to help you, you know."

"I know, but it wasn't justified. Selfish, even."

"No mother wants to see her child hurt. She was only trying to protect you; she didn't know any other way…."

"That doesn't matter."

I hummed thoughtfully to myself as I took another bite of my sandwich. I chewed, and swallowed. "Well, it's good to care about your family…," I said slowly. "There are a variety of types of people in the world, and I do believe your mom was a good person. She just didn't understand. I suppose you have to give her credit for raising you; for giving birth to you; for caring about you. Light's father died not even a year ago; last November…."

Mikami stopped bringing his sandwich up to his mouth, stared at it a moment, then carefully set it down again. "Light's father was a respectable man with a good sense of justice, though, if I'm correct," Mikami said.

"I'm not reprimanding you or anything," I told him. "Everyone has different parents." I shrugged. "Light's parents aren't yours. But then… it _is _something to think about…. Family, I mean." I gazed down at the table with vague nostalgia. "It's June fifth, isn't it?"

He looked at me. "Yes."

"It's my dad's birthday," I realized. "It's not like I can celebrate it, of course. I guess the only thing that's worse than knowing someone you love is dead is not knowing how they are at all. It's like the dreaded unknown. It gives it a sense of anxiety. If you met my parents, what would you think of them, I wonder?"

He didn't respond, and I laughed.

"I'm not complaining," I said sincerely. "I liked my parents, for one. Mom was really weird and Dad could snap sometimes when we were in a hurry, but I loved them. And then, I'm happy here. Sure, I wonder sometimes how they are, but that really doesn't matter at this point."

"It's always better to just move on," he said, and I nodded.

"Always."

* * *

"Matt!" Sierra called. "_Matt!_"

"Yeah?" Matt responded dully, turning to her. He was just heading out to get food.

"Matt, can you get pocky at the store? Please?"

"Why the hell do you want pocky?" he asked her quizzically, looking at her through his goggles. In this position, Sierra could actually see his eyes.

"Well, you know that party get-together thing that Natalie and Anna and Sam had last month?"

"May twenty-first," Matt confirmed. "You were upset about it. Pocky doesn't make a party, though."

"No, no, it's not a party I'm planning. Anna mentioned to me while we were talking on the phone one time that Sam brought pocky, and they played the Pocky Game."

"The Pocky Game?" he repeated.

"Yes. The Pocky Game."

"So you're saying you want the pocky because you want to play this game, then."

"Yep."

"What, exactly, _is _the Pocky Game, anyway?"

"Well, you put the stick of pocky between two people, each person bites one end, and then they eat towards the middle and the first person to pull back loses."

"So… basically, you just want an excuse to kiss Mello," he smirked.

She scowled. "No! I want to play the Pocky Game, that's all! In fact, I might just only play with _you_ 'cause you're more fun."

"I'm more fun?" he asked amusedly, then chuckled. "Yeah, I guess that's true."

"So will you get the pocky, then?" Sierra asked hopefully.

"Sure; sure," he responded, then went out the door.

"Yay!" Sierra squeaked happily, then made her way quickly back into the house to explain to Mello what Matt was getting for them and why. She had to re-tell the rules, but that was fine with her. She just liked the Pocky Game, no matter who she played it with.

"No," Mello told her flatly after she had told him everything. "I'm not playing."

"Why _not_?" she cried.

"It's stupid," he answered irritably.

"No it's not," Sierra huffed. "Besides, I bet you couldn't win against me anyway."

He looked at her. "No. I'd win."

"Nuh-uh. _I _would," she beamed. "I know so."

"That's not right; you can't possibly know you'd win."

"Well, I do, and you just made a claim you'd win yourself."

"Then I'll _prove _to you I'll win," he scowled.

"Good luck with that!" she chirped, smiling at the fact she'd just got him to play. There was one thing Mello could not deny, and that was a challenge. It was her way of getting him to do things he normally wouldn't do. And, of course, Mello _did _like to prove her wrong, too, which was another method. It was less effective, though….

There was the sound of the door opening and closing, then footsteps as Matt walked in with a few bags. "Okay, I got the pocky," he said. "Plus some of the lesser needed things…. The next store is in the opposite direction of here, so…." He shrugged. "Have fun with your pocky." He snickered.

"_Matt_…," Sierra said threateningly.

"Hey, hey, don't worry; I'll leave you two alone. I can't watch, so it's less embarrassing." He walked away before Sierra could respond, leaving her and Mello alone again. She knew Matt would take his sweet time in getting the groceries, no matter how much he'd rather be here, inside. So much for playing with Matt first.

She got to her feet to grab a box of pocky, then opened it and looked at Mello. "You still think you'll win?" she challenged, holding her head high.

He scoffed. "Of course I do."

So, she pulled out a pocky stick and held it between them, Mello glaring down at it as he set his chocolate bar aside for the moment and held the treat in his mouth. He looked at her expectantly, and she grabbed a hold of her own end. They ate towards the middle. Sierra was gazing into his eyes with defiance, but after a second or two it started to creep her out and she pulled back.

Mello smirked, pushing the rest of the pocky stick into his mouth. "I told you I'd win."

Sierra frowned, pulling out another stick of pocky. "No. We're playing this until I win!"

"That's not going to happen, Sierra."

"Yes it will!" She held the pocky stick out firmly, her eyes determined. And they tried again.

Sierra lost.

Again.

Sierra lost.

Again.

Sierra lost.

"God damn it!" she cried.

"Give up yet?" Mello asked, sounding rather smug.

She glared at him. "No. We will play _until I win_."

Mello shrugged. "Whatever."

They played over and over again, until well past when Matt got back. Sierra kept losing, and it wasn't until they reached the final pocky stick that Sierra actually won. Poor Matt was left without ever playing the game, but Sierra promised him she'd play with him next time. Matt wasn't all that disappointed, though. He seemed to be under the impression that Sierra was losing on purpose, even though she most definitely wasn't. In any case, he had a fun time watching it.

* * *

_**Fun Fact**_**: Real-life ****Anna actually has said that Real-life Natalie and Light are already married. Real-life Sierra and I still don't understand that logic. xD**

**Review? For _triangles_!**


	11. Chapter 11

_**Mysterious Guest**_**: **Ahh, glad to have you back, dear! No problem; I understand disinterest. In fact, I had a short period where I couldn't write, for I had no DN feels and so lacked inspiration. Lovely that you returned, though~ Life's treating me alright, I think. I hope it's treating you well also.  
Haha, yeah, it turns out 'goth' people are actually very nice. And 'emos', unless they're the same thing. I lack the ability to call people the correct thing when it comes to groups like that... But I know I love emo people. They're wonderful. .w. Real-Life Sam is actually considered as such... Hm.  
Ah! I shall think on this a moment... Good question.  
If on the stage of feeling each other's pain (but not having the same injuries)... if one were to lose their arm, the other would feel the pain of the other's arm being detached. However, they would still feel in their arm. Then on the other hand, although he/she who lost the arm no longer has an arm, they would feel a phantom pain if ever their Bond's existing arm were hurt. ...I hope that makes sense~  
Oh yes, I've tried pocky. It's wondrous. I even introduced it to 'normal' people when I got some for my birthday. One of these 'normal' people described it as 'like nutella on a stick.' :3

_**Mrs. Lawliet**_**: **Well then, pleased to meet you, Mrs. Lawliet. My friends tell me I'm like Light and Izaya (Orihara), because that makes a perfect combination. (Not really. The Izaya bit doesn't make any sense whatsoever.) L and Near; good choices, I daresay, even though I myself am not a fangirl of either. Same age as Near, eh? I suppose that could either be thirteen or eighteen, depending upon where we stand time-skip-wise. *strokes invisible beard* I'm glad you like the story, anyhow~

**Eh, Warning; this chapter is filled with unwanted drama. xD Enjoy~**

* * *

That Sunday, I had Light over for dinner, as usual. Of course there was also L, Sam, and Anna, but there was a sixth guest that night: Misa. Don't get me wrong; I liked her and thought of her as a friend, but if she got any hint from Sam or Anna that Light and I were together in any way that was more than friendship… I'd be dead. I wasn't all too sure what Misa would do if she found out…. I mean, I knew it would have to happen at some point, but it wasn't something I was really looking forward to at all. Besides, if she got reckless with her revenge against me, if, indeed, that would be what would happen, then something bad may be the consequence for all of us. So, I made sure to warn Anna and Sam not to tease me in any way, shape, or form.

Sweet. A night without teasing.

"Misa hasn't been over for dinner in a while!" Misa cried in delight. "And Ryuuzaki is here too, how nice!"

"Yes, hello Misa," L greeted.

"Then, Sam," she said, looking to her, "and Anna." She giggled. "It's still weird calling you two that since I haven't seen you as often. You know, your real names; I haven't used them." She tilted her head. "And of course I know Light." She gripped his arm, pulling his limb into a hug. "How could I forget him?"

"He's rather unforgettable," L deadpanned.

She laughed in joy and made her way into the house; Light closed the door behind her. "Ryuuzaki! Did I ever tell you how happy I was when I found out you were alive?" She pulled him into an awkward hug (he was still in his position, after all). "Oh, did I ever say sorry for calling you a pervert? I'm sorry! I completely misinterpreted your character!" she cried.

L just stared blankly into space, not quite hugging back and not responding at first. "It's fine, Misa," he said. "Please let go of me."

"Of course!" she chirped, letting go.

"Can_ I_ get a hello hug?" I asked brightly.

She looked at me. Something flickered in her eyes, but she beamed anyway and jumped to hug me. When she pulled away, she said with cheer, "Natalie and Misa should get together more often!"

"We should," I agreed with a smile.

Anna stood from the floor and pulled at Misa's shirt. "Misa, can I have a hug too?" she said hopefully.

"Well, of course you can!" Misa smiled, and leaned down to hug her too.

"Now, how come she gets hugs when she comes but all I get are hellos?" Light asked amusedly with a pleasant smile.

"Because you suck," Sam replied bluntly.

"_What?_" Misa cried. "Light doesn't suck! He's amazing!"

"Yeah, Light's awesome!" Anna agreed.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Right; hi Misa."

Misa huffed.

"Aren't you friendly?" I asked Sam, raising my eyebrows.

Sam only shrugged.

"Aunt Natalie," Anna inquired, "what's for dinner?"

"I'm making Udon and I've got fresh-made bread," I replied with a smile.

"Sounds good!" Misa grinned. Light sat down on the couch next to Sam – Sam frowned at this – and Misa immediately plopped herself down next to him, cuddling into his side. She spared me single glance; it seemed smug. I tilted my head ever so slightly, keeping my face blank. Then, with nowhere to sit (L was on the chair), I sat myself down on the floor with Anna. "Ryuuzaki," said Misa, looking to L, "will you be eating?"

"No; I won't be eating what you are, in any case. I am hungry at the moment, but I'm holding off eating for dinner so I can eat with all of you. I, however, will be having cake."

Misa frowned. "Of course you will."

"Well, L's amazing, so he _can _have cake," Sam shrugged.

I jumped at the chance she gave me. "Of course you think he's amazing."

She cocked an eyebrow, and Anna giggled. "What do you mean?"

"Sam," said Anna amusedly, "of course _you _would think L is awesome because you _love _him."

Sam pursed her lips, her cheeks coloring.

"Oh, right!" Misa exclaimed. "Sam and Ryuuzaki are a couple now!" As she spoke, she pointed both of her index fingers in L and Sam's direction. "Misa is so _happy _for you!" she cried.

"Um," Sam replied. "Thanks…?"

"You're so wonderful together!" She folded her hands together. "You're just so _cute _as a couple; I hope the relationship stays!"

"We're not _cute_," Sam protested.

L only gave a small _hn_, wordlessly stirring sugar cubes into his tea.

"Fine, Sam," I agreed with a slight smirk. "Don't you remember? You're _sweet_!"

"That's _perfect!_" Misa squealed.

Sam just glared at me from her seat at the couch, not even bothering to respond to Misa's rambling of what a perfect couple they were. I only smiled at her, raising my eyebrows. Both of us knew she couldn't tease me. Not here, not now. Misa was here. Therefore, she couldn't get back at me when I teased her or triggered teases such as this. She'd just have to wait it out. Anna, realizing the situation, laughed.

Sam's eyes suddenly glowed as a smile slowly spread across her face. She had an idea now, eh?

Sam turned to Misa and asked abruptly, "Is Light a good kisser?"

I mentally facepalmed, physically looking at her dully and quirking an eyebrow. Wow, Sam... Really? All you'd succeed in doing with that one is weirding out the poor blond.

Misa looked at her and blinked twice in surprise. Light raised his eyebrows. "Wh…_what_?" she asked eventually. "That was sudden…."

Anna was giggling hysterically.

"Yeah. Sorry. Is he?" Sam asked bluntly.

"Why would you want to know anyway?" Misa asked, squinting at her. "I thought you didn't like Light."

"I don't. Just tell me."

"Well, Sam, that isn't something to ask with Ryuuzaki and Light himself here," Misa pointed out, and laughed.

"In my case," said L, "it wouldn't matter. Anything Samantha hears, says, asks, and does, I know about."

Misa looked at him a second, then straightened up. "_Ryuuzaki_," she shouted, getting to her feet, "I take back what I said earlier! You really _are _a pervert!"

L just looked up at her blankly while Sam facepalmed, I laughed, Anna continued giggling hysterically, and Light chuckled. Some – no… _many_ people may have thought Misa was annoying, but she was amusing, too. Friendly. And then there was that innocence she always carried even when she had the Death Note. Maybe she was just ignorant, I don't know, but I respected her all the same. It didn't matter if she wasn't as smart as others; she had her own quirks.

It really was too bad she was probably going to end up hating me.

* * *

The next day was, of course, a Monday, and all of us went to work. L and Sam worked to decode B's message before the ninth, which was only that Wednesday. It was preferable that they figure out what the blue triangle and the victim pattern was before the end of the next day, because that was likely when B would strike. For now, it was assumed that the time pattern matched the LABB Murder Cases, but it could be wrong. Until that theory was proved as such, however, they would assume that it was that time pattern.

Anna went to work with Near again, of course, but not much happened at SPK headquarters, as usual. Anna knew Near was planning something, though. It was rather simple, really. His plan involved Misa's kidnapping (though it wouldn't be kidnapping because she would come willingly), and the moment he felt the time was right, he would make his move on her. Tomorrow, he thought would do. She always went out for lunch on Tuesdays. Yes, he'd strike tomorrow, and he would catch Kira without L's help, and without Mello's assistance. (Of course, he wasn't factoring in Sierra because he didn't know about her. So, his plan might have ended up failing.)

Sierra and Mello were still in unknown territory, but they made their plans in the shadows. They watched Misa's home through surveillance cameras, as they had been doing. At the next opportunity, Matt would place a wiretap in her house, possibly earning proof she was Kira. Then, with that, they could move forward to Light and I to gain evidence against us. With Misa, though, it was harder to make progress….

Light and I, of course, had a typical Monday at work. The killer of Sayuri Sakamoto and Kenta Gakusha had not been figured out yet, unfortunately, and there was nothing we had to go on but a blue triangle painted on a wall. ('Maybe it's supposed to be a bridge? You know, cause there are lots of triangles in bridges…,' Matsuda suggested. 'No,' Light replied, 'that's not it either….') According to Ide, the murderer had left no evidence behind. Not a trace of DNA to be found; unless he was missing something. Was he missing something? Well, we all had to be missing some sort of hint, because we didn't know what we needed to do….

Misa was sitting on the couch that afternoon, relaxing. Light wasn't yet home from work; it was a bit past noon, and she hadn't eaten lunch yet. She flipped off the TV and stretched contentedly, then got to her feet. From there she headed into the kitchen and giggled as she threw an apple into the air and Ryuk caught it. "There you go, Ryuk," she said happily.

"Mm-hmm," he responded, munching on his delicious red apple.

She took her own apple and began cutting it up, humming to herself. Ryuk would hover over her, she would hand him another apple, and the cycle would repeat as she prepared herself a small dish of apple slices. Needless to say, she was eventually out of apples. Ryuk made a little '_Oh!_' and looked to Misa. "Uh… we need apples," he told her.

"I know," Misa replied, heading to a cupboard to grab some cinnamon. "Misa will go out to buy more tomorrow."

"…Okay…."

"Come on," she said, raising an eyebrow and smirking as she turned to look at him, "you can stand a _day _without apples, can't you?"

"Well, yeah, but don't blame me if the withdrawal symptoms start."

She rolled her eyes and went back to the counter where her plate rested. "Ryuk, I know they don't start that fast."

"Eh, whatever." He tilted his head as he watched her sprinkle the cinnamon on the apples. "What are you doing?"

"Putting cinnamon on."

"Why would you ruin perfectly good apples with cinnamon?"

"I'm not _ruining _them, I'm giving them more taste," she frowned.

"Well, cinnamon is sweet, right?"

"Kinda."

"I thought you didn't eat sweet things so you wouldn't gain weight."

Her head turned so she could glare up at the shinigami. Then she turned away, tilting her head up as she snapped the lid shut with a _hmph_. "For your _information_, Ryuk," she said, "cinnamon is _good _for you. It helps cholesterol levels and it's actually very nutritious."

He just sorta watched as she went back to the cupboard to put the cinnamon away. "Oh," he said eventually. "Okay."

With that, Misa grabbed her plate and headed to the couch to eat her light lunch, setting the plate on the table and curling her legs beneath her. She took a bite of a slice – Ryuk didn't lie, it _was _juicy – and chewed before swallowing. "Ryuk," she asked thoughtfully, "do you believe in love?"

There was a pause. "…Huh?" was his intelligent response.

"Love," Misa repeated. "True love; soul mates; love at first sight; that sort of thing. Do you believe in it?"

"No," he said. "I think it's just human foolishness."

"Oh," she replied, looking down. "I believe." She finished that apple slice, and swallowed it. Another pause. "But… what about Gelus and Rem? They were capable of love, weren't they? They died because of it, so it must exist."

Ryuk only shrugged. "You can think whatever you want, Misa. You're not going to be able to kill me off, though."

"Hm…," she hummed, putting another piece of apple in her mouth. She swallowed. "Well, Ryuk… whatever you think, I believe in love. And I know that I love Light."

"You sure do." And he cackled slightly. Misa didn't hear the unsaid, '_But the feeling's not mutual_.'

"Light…" she said, "…Light didn't…. He wasn't the same after he lost his memories. Light doesn't love Misa anymore… but he cares. He's trying, at least. He'll come back around, and Misa will have him back."

Ryuk was cackling a bit again.

She frowned at him. "What's so funny, Ryuk?"

"Uh," he answered, still sounding amused, "I don't think Light'll be coming back anytime soon."

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "What do you mean by that, Ryuk?"

"Well, he's with someone already," he said, his evergrin seeming to taunt the girl. "Didn't you know?"

She stood abruptly. "_What?!_"

"Oh… um…." He lifted his long, spindly index finger to his dark blue lower lip, looking upwards. "I take it I wasn't supposed to say that…."

"Who?!" Misa demanded. "Who _stole him_?!"

"I don't think she—"

"It was Natalie, wasn't it?! I knew it!"

"…Uh…."

She whirled around to face the clock. I would be home soon. She sneered at the poor time-telling device, then snatched the plate from the coffee table and brought it over to the kitchen counter. Then she left it behind, heading for the door.

"Hey," Ryuk called, "don't waste apples!"

She closed the door.

Ryuk was left in silence for a moment. He tilted his head. "Uh… oops." His wings flapped as he floated forward to follow her. "At least this might be interesting..." He snickered, and floated through the closed door. "Humans are so funny."

* * *

Conversely, I sat on my own couch not long after, pondering over the problem of Misa. It wasn't so much _her _that was the problem, but the fact I had no idea how much time she had left regarding her lifespan. She'd made the eye deal how many times now? Five times; that was right. I could only hope Rem and Gelus had a lot of life to give her. If only I could somehow stop this….

Oh.

This was the exact way Sierra had saved Matt, and the reason L couldn't be killed by the Death Note any longer. I only had to take Misa to my world and back, and she'd be safe for the time being. Her lifespan would no longer be fixed, and it was less likely she'd die so soon. Thank you, Light, for actually helping me figure that out. Evidently, I am an idiot.

I stood. I could go to Misa's house right now to do this. I didn't know when her life was supposed to end, so it was good to just get that done. It was better to be safe than sorry. So, I put my glass of water in the sink and headed to the door. With the turn of the handle, the door swung open to reveal none other than Misa, fist raised as though about to knock.

She blinked twice in confusion, then glared at me. "You took Misa's Light," she said in a low voice.

It was my turn to blink in confusion.

"Misa will slap you now!"

I reacted quickly and sidestepped, causing her to step forward and slap nothing. She scowled, accepting this, and walked angrily into the house. I closed the door behind her. "Welcome to my home; nice to see you," I said drily.

She looked at me with dark eyes, but her glare didn't really phase me.

Ryuk made his familiar snicker, and I looked at him. "Misa's just angry 'cause I told her about you."

I heaved a sigh. Nice, Ryuk. Figures it wasn't even my teasing friends I had to worry about after all. _Ryuk..._

"Do you admit to stealing Light?" Misa asked seriously, her tone slightly threatening.

"Misa," I said gently, "I would never _steal _anyone; I—"

"But you admit to claiming Light right now." It was more a statement than a question.

"Well, um—"

"_Do you_?"

"Yes," I responded immediately, straightening up and feeling awkward.

"_Why would you do that?!_" she yelled at me, and I winced. "Natalie, you _knew _Light was mine from the start! Then you _took him_!"

"Misa," I soothed, "think of it this way; I did not take him. He was not yours, and technically he came to me of his own accord." She opened her mouth to protest, but I kept going before she could talk. "Let me finish, please, Misa." She closed her mouth, still glowering at me. "Misa, you know I like you as a friend, and with the way I am…. I would never be with someone I knew was taken." I felt like an idiot talking like this, but oh well. "I could never take someone away from you."

"But you _did_!" she snapped. "He wasn't mine right now, but I was going to make him love me again! Fine, you didn't steal him, but you _cheated _because you took advantage of the fact his memory loss changed him!"

"Misa, I didn't cheat." I frowned. "And besides, I didn't really even ask for him. Sure, I'm going to admit I liked him, but I let him be. He came to me."

"Are you trying to say this is _Light's _fault?!"

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose in slight frustration. I don't know if it originated in Light, myself, or both of us. It didn't matter anyway. The fact was, at that moment, I needed to make her lifespan ever-changing like mine was. "Look," I said, looking at her straight in the eyes, "you halved your life too many times for the eye deal. I don't know how long you have left. Just let me take you through a portal so you can't die so easily. We can resolve this afterwards."

"No!" She squinted at me with not-too-happy eyes. "Why would Misa listen to you, anyway?"

"Misa, I don't want you to die!"

"Oh really?" she asked, then sneered. "Well, Misa wouldn't mind so much if Natalie were dead."

My eyes grew hard. "Misa," I said, an edge of coldness creeping silently into my tone, "I'm sure you _would _care because _Light would die too_. You seem to have forgotten the Bond that Light and I have which, I'm terribly sorry to say, you _don't _have. I sincerely apologize for having taken someone I didn't mean to take, but in all due respect, I don't think I could do anything about it at this point."

She scoffed. "What do you mean, '_Light would die too_?' Are you implying he loves you so much he'd kill himself if you were dead? Misa somehow doubts that!"

"No," I answered, my expression unchanging from that hard gaze. "I'm talking about the Bond. The mind sync. The _whatever-you-call-it_ connection with the mind. Now we get the same injuries. We're a part of one another, Misa."

"That can't be true. It wouldn't be _fair!_"

"Well, life isn't fair, and besides, it's not like I had a say in who I was mind synced to."

"Well, you were actually working _against _Light for a lot of these years while _I _was _helping _him, so Misa wins!" she chirped, her expression twisting into a sneer again. "Misa would do anything for Light!" she exclaimed, holding her hand to her chest as the sneer dissipated to be replaced with a mere glare. "Misa couldn't live without Light! Misa would _die _for Light!"

"I understand that," I said. "I know. But do you truly understand him? See past his masks to the person beneath? _Why _do you love him, Misa?"

"It was love at first sight!"

I didn't respond at first, my head tilting slightly. "Misa… if it were love at first sight… then it was only looks that drew you."

"No!" she interjected. "Misa knew that because he was Kira he was a good person! Light killed the murderer of Misa's parents; I could never be more grateful to anyone!"

I looked at her a moment, and she just glared back. My gaze had softened again at this point, but she seemed to want to stab me with those furious eyes. Oh, if looks could kill….

"Misa will get him back," she hissed. "Just you wait." And she turned on her heel, opened the door roughly, and left, slamming the door shut behind her.

I sighed, running my hand through my hair. Oh well… I'd let her anger blow over, and then I'd take her through the portal-warp-whatever-thing. Surely she wouldn't die so soon. She couldn't deny my help forever if she didn't want to die. I looked over to the wall. _Well, Matsuda will enjoy _this_, _I thought dully.

As Misa was making her way back to her apartment, not even noticing Ryuk hovering behind her, she pulled out her cell phone and called Light after walking awhile and burning off her anger. She wasn't going to yell at him, no, she wasn't mad with Light. Me, however…. Well, it was like Takada all over again. Maybe Mello could kidnap me, too, and then I'd be the one burned to death in a church. She wouldn't mind that too much. Unless I hadn't lied, and Light really would die with me….

"Hello?" Light greeted on the other line; of course he already knew what had happened.

"Light, why didn't you tell me?" she asked, her voice soft now. "You could have at least let me know instead of not saying."

"I didn't want to hurt you," he answered honestly. We knew she'd be angry, too, and it was best to have her complete cooperation...

"Well, I guess I'm hurt anyway," she sighed. "But at least Light still wanted Misa happy."

"Of course I want you happy, Misa." He had to soothe her, not just because he cared but also to make sure she didn't do anything rash.

"Light, can I ask why you picked Natalie instead? What does she have that I don't?"

There was a short pause. "…Misa… I—"

"I guess if you're going to say anything, it'll be the mind sync… but… Natalie helps Light more, doesn't she? Misa doesn't help as much."

"That's not true," he told her.

"Well, she got the Eyes, too, you know. Plus, Misa got us in jail last time…."

"Misa…."

"Should Misa forfeit?" she asked.

Light blinked, somewhere else, taken a bit off-guard. "Misa, what do you mean?"

"You said you wanted Misa to be happy. Misa is only happy if Light is happy. Do you think Misa would be happier without her memories? Am I more of a help with them or without them? I want to help you, Light."

"Stop saying you're not a help. You are."

"But then, I guess it would be better if Misa didn't know she was the one who put her and Light in jail when Near…." She didn't finish the sentence. "I'm not exactly helping you as Kira…. Light already has Mikami and Natalie." She said my name in a bitter, contemptuous tone. I mean, she stopped liking me awhile ago, after she started suspecting and once I started spending more time with Light. When I became Kira. But now, she actually had solid reason to hate me and so she was open with her dislike.

"Misa—"

"Don't worry, Light, Misa's Death Note is buried at its usual place. You can go and get it if you need it. Misa will forfeit, and she'll get you to love her again. Somehow." She smiled happily. "Bye, then, Light!" she sang, and flipped her phone shut without waiting for a response.

Taking long, purposeful strides, she headed to a hotel nearby to earn a room. She wasn't going back to her apartment quite yet; not tonight. She was going to find a way to make Light love her again; she just had to find a way. She knew she could think of something. She bought a room and got a hotel key from a disgruntled receptionist named Rin Saito (an old friend of hers, since she's been to this hotel often) before heading to the elevator to go to her room. After making her way inside, she immediately sat herself down on the bed and closed her eyes. "Ryuk," she said, "I forfeit."

He gave a shrug. "Alright; see ya," he replied, and turned to walk out.

When she opened her eyes again, there was no shinigami there and she remembered nothing of the Death Note. Only one thing was on her mind.

She was going to get Light back.

* * *

**Ohh boy.**

_**Fun Fact**_**: I consider it to be around here that things start actually happening in this story. :T**

**Review? For...an angry Misa?**


	12. Chapter 12

_**Amy**_**: **Ah, yes, the girl does certainly have perseverance. You're right, though... Light is her world, really... I do hold sympathy for her.

_**Mrs. Lawliet**_**: **Ahh, I see~ Ahh; L, Near, and Matt, eh? I can understand the tough decision. I suppose it's a bit of a good thing it can be decided for you, eh? Near... can be adorable; yeah. I can admit to that. Though I also find him childishly annoying.  
But that's just me.

_**Mysterious Guest**_**: **Ahh, but that is if she were to live to be 100. In the manga, she is supposed to have died the Valentine's Day of 2011, just over a year after Light's death. So...  
Well, I don't really know... It's a phantom feeling, when you don't actually have a limb there. My great-great grandfather lost both of his legs, and he'd always get these phantom itches where his legs were supposed to be. But he couldn't _scratch _them, 'cause he didn't have legs. Weird.  
...So he decided to keep his legs in the freezer so he could scratch them. He claimed it helped. But that's beside the point.  
Mhmm, I feel bad for Misa too... And of course you were missed! *hugs*

_**Random**_**: **Now that Misa has forfeited, those with Shinigami Eyes can see her lifespan now; yes. Hahaa... Misa went off to a hotel, though, so Natalie won't be able to see the lifespan until her return.

_**The Reading Kind**_**: **Ohh, they're games? Hmm, I'll have to keep them in mind if ever I go through another gaming phase~  
Oh, no, dear, she's not dead yet, haha. I don't think I can answer for Misa...(Or _can I? _I'm the writer!)...but I know I love Sam and L~ Infinitely sweet~ Ohh, but one must love the Cake Scene. Beautiful. ...Teehee.  
Well, one can't see the lifespan of a Death Note owner. Now that Misa has forfeited, though, yes. Natalie would be able to see her lifespan and know when she's meant to die. She just forfeited after she'd gone to the hotel, so Natalie has no idea when she's supposed to die. She'd be able to tell once Misa came back, though. c:

**_9shadowgirl11_: **Admittedly, Mello has been undertaking some character development. That's why he seems nicer, haha. Earlier on, in the previous stories, he was mostly a grump. He's getting a teensy bit better, though~

**Ah...enjoy?**

* * *

Beyond Birthday made his way into the hotel he stayed at to head back to his room. He needed to fit himself with his new disguise if he was to go out and find his next target. Pushing open the lobby door, he made his way in. A blond-haired girl caught his eye, who was talking to the receptionist cheerily despite the fact Saito (the receptionist) didn't look all too happy. Looking at her name, he remembered her as the girl – the model – who had helped him and Sophia get their room here back in late March. The only difference was the fact he could see her lifespan now…. He plastered a smile to his face and made his way over to them.

"Hey," he greeted when he was within talking range, bowing slightly. Both of them looked to him. "You were the girl who helped my daughter and I get a room here, right? Misa, wasn't it?" _The second Kira._

Misa Amane looked at him confusedly for a moment, then recognition flickered in her eyes. "Right; I think I remember that now! What was your name again? It started with a B…."

"Brian," he smiled, holding out his hand. "Brian Bachman." Misa took his hand and shook it warmly. He was meant to be American as Brian, so handshaking only made sense….

"How's your daughter, then?"

"Oh, Selena? She's doing wonderful."

Rin Saito, the receptionist, sighed. Knowing she was no longer important here, she left the two and went into the back room.

"That's good," said Misa. "Are you still staying here?"

B nodded. "Have you been staying here, too, then? I haven't seen you."

"No, I was visiting a friend last time. Now I'm actually staying a few days; I just got a room today."

"Oh? What room are you in?"

"Oh, um, 404."

He smiled. "Maybe I'll drop by to give you a proper thank you. Perhaps I'll make you a pie."

"No, no, it's fine," she said, giving him a closed-eye smile. "And anyway, I'm sorry, but I have to go for now."

"Where are you off to?" he inquired.

"Oh, I'm just meeting my friends at a nice restaurant around the corner. It's Mr. Hibiki's place; you've heard of it, right?"

"Oh, yeah, I hear the food is great! You go ahead and go. Have a nice day!"

"You too!" she answered brightly, and walked away.

B's expression darkened again the moment she left, and he made his way to the elevator. Up to his room he went; the disguise was already set out for him. But both he and Sophia knew he didn't need it; not to find his victim, anyway. He was already set. He chuckled darkly to himself. Things were going nicely.

His next victim: Misa Amane, meant to die the very next day.

* * *

"No donuts today?" Anna asked curiously the next morning as I buttered my toast with a granola bar in my mouth. She, herself, was actually having a powdered donut, I just hadn't felt in the mood for donuts that morning. Or anything sweet.

I took the granola bar out of my mouth once I had finished buttering my toast, and answered with a, "Nope." I then slid into my seat, setting my plate and drink on the table. I took a bite of my granola bar.

"You worried 'bout Misa?" she asked, her mouth full. "I hope you don't die, Aunt Natalie." I'd told her yesterday what had happened, so of course she knew about it. When I went to work, Matsuda would obviously the first one to find out… just because he was Matsuda.

"Don't worry," I smiled, "I don't think Misa will be killing me."

She giggled. "I don't know about that one, Aunt Natalie."

I only smiled, finished my toast, and stood again to place my plate in the sink and head for the door. "Bye, Anna, I'll see you later!"

She called out her own farewell, and the door closed behind me. "You know," I muttered to myself as I headed down the driveway, "there'll come a point where she'll hate me too, once she finds out about this whole Kira thing." I sighed. "Savor it while it lasts, I guess." I laughed lightly as I walked, but as Ryuk didn't partake in any sort of conversation, silence soon came and I walked – he floated – in silence. I stopped short at the very end of the driveway, however, as I suddenly knew…. Light checked Misa's apartment just then to make sure she was alright, and she wasn't there.

Ryuk looked down at me curiously, likely wondering why I'd stopped. "Ryuk," I said, not yet taking another step. A light breeze passed by, which felt nice considering how warm it was.

Ryuk made a little sound of surprise at the sound of his name, then asked in an odd tone, "Yeah?"

"Where's Misa?"

"Misa?"

"Yes, Misa." I looked up at him. "You were with her when she forfeited, so you should have a good idea of where she is."

"Oh," he answered. "She's staying at a hotel somewhere nearby. That's all I have to say."

I sighed. Ryuk was never very helpful. Nonetheless, I continued walking. "Good," I said. "At least it means she's alright."

* * *

Beyond didn't strike until later. It was early afternoon when he actually went out in his disguise, Sophia watching from the security cameras as Misa made her way out of her room. Today, B would be Hako, a dark and rebellious young man. His hair was brushed over one of his eyes, and his clothing was all black. He wore a simple t-shirt with the name of a rock band printed on its front and black, baggy jeans with sneakers. He was waiting outside the entrance of the hotel, leaning against the wall.

Sophia called him on his cell phone, and the moment he answered, hung up. He pretended to keep talking, a casual conversation, as Misa walked out of the building while reading a magazine. She was wearing sunglasses in hopes of warding off Misa Amane fans. Like that ever worked.

B began to walk not far behind Misa, all the while talking to the imaginary person on the other end of the line. His other hand was in his pocket as he walked casually forward. "Nah, I tried listening to them; they sucked." He paused. "Yeah, whatever, that's your call." He allowed his feet to carry him closer to Misa. "No, no, I've got it. I'll see you at nine." He closed his eyes and sighed as he flipped his cell phone shut, 'accidentally' running into the girl in front of him: Misa.

She stumbled forward, tripped, and fell onto her hands and knees on the pavement.

"Whoa!" he cried, quickly circling her so he could help her to her feet. "I'm so sorry; that was my fault."

She looked up at him and accepted his hand. "Well, thanks," she muttered, brushing herself off.

"Sorry," he repeated, scratching the back of his head. He averted his gaze. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

She blinked at him, then smiled. "It's fine!" she chirped.

They both began walking again. "So," said B, "my name's Hako."

"Hako?" Misa repeated, then giggled. "That's a bit of a silly name. 'Box.'"

"Yeah, I don't know what the hell was wrong with my mom when she named me that," he sighed. "Oh well. Now, what am I supposed to call you?"

She smirked. "Why should I say?"

"Well, I gave my name. It's only fair."

"Fine. I'm Misa."

"That's a nice name," he commented. "Wouldn't that mean 'beautiful bloom'?" _Or it could be derived from _kuromisa._ 'Black Mass.' It suits her rather well._

"Yeah, well…."

_Haha, _he chuckled, having already decided his smile creeped people out. "Well, it's much better than having a name that means box."

"I guess my parents named me well, then," she said with a little smile, hugging her purse to her chest.

"I guess they did. Mine are idiots."

"Sometimes I thought mine were, too…. But, now they're dead, and I miss them so much."

_Mine are dead too. They were all supposed to die. _They walked in silence for a bit, then, "Misa, might I take you out to dinner tonight?"

She gave him an irritated look. "Like, on a date? No."

"I didn't mean on a date. I just thought you might deserve a nice meal paid for by someone else."

"Oh, good, because Misa is already taken," she said matter-of-factly.

"I'm not surprised," B replied. "So then…."

"No, but thank you. Misa has things to do tonight."

_Sorry to mess up your schedule._ "Could I at least spend a piece of the day with you? I'm not really headed anywhere, really. Maybe we can… eh… just walk for a bit."

Misa frowned at him. "…Alright…."

"Maybe we can get an ice cream cone? It's the perfect day for a cold snack, don't you think?"

"I guess you're right," she smiled brightly. "But no thank you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I don't eat sweet things; they make you fat."

"Come on, I eat sweet things all the time, and look at me." He allowed Misa to look at him for a second. "Besides, you can let yourself have a single ice cream, right?" She pursed her lips, but said nothing. "Look, how often do you get offered a free snack by a stranger?"

"A lot," she replied. "I'm a celebrity."

B feigned surprise. "Really? Oh, jeez, I'm probably annoying the crap outta you right now."

"No," she beamed, "I'm a nice celebrity." She smiled wider and pointed to her grin. "See?"

"Well then, celebrity, would you like an ice cream or not?"

She hesitated, but appeared to consider it. "…Fine."

"Good," he smiled. "C'mon, there's a real good ice cream shop just a few blocks away. We can get there faster if walk through—"

"No, Misa's not stupid. She's not walking through alleys with strangers."

He laughed lightly again. _Hahaha_. "I guess that makes sense. I guess I'll have to build your trust so I'm not a stranger anymore, huh?"

She sneered at him. "You're gonna have to be _real _trustworthy if you wanna get me in an alley with you."

He laughed yet again. Ugh. "I guess that's true." So they walked, and they talked. No matter what happened, B knew he would get her because she was meant to die. It didn't matter, necessarily, how he captured her, but it would be done. They soon reached the next supposed shortcut. It was funny, he hadn't even planned on using the first alley. It amused him how the safe alley was the one she refused. "Alright," he said, "do you trust me enough to take this shortcut with me? I just want to get there faster, and besides, it's broad daylight."

She eyed him suspiciously. "…If you try to pull anything, I'll scream," she informed him, and began walking into the alley. Deeper into the alleyway, the rooftops above them hung over the edge of the wall, covering the sky. "I swear," she said, "if you really _don't _know your way around, I'll slap you."

More laughter. "Trust me," he said.

She laughed a bit. "I know."

She was walking; she seemed relaxed, in the sense that she didn't seem to be expecting anything. There was a determined look in her eyes that he'd noticed, and she walked as though there was somewhere to be. She'd never get to that place. She was in front of him as he slid out the syringe, raising it ever so slowly. He didn't alter his pace. Then, he swiftly stuck the needle into the girl's neck and injected the sedative. She opened her mouth to say something, or perhaps to scream as she'd promised, but nothing came out as her eyes rolled back in her head and she went limp. He pulled out the needle and released her, allowing her to fall to her knees, then collapse. He knelt beside her and gently picked her up, grinning down at her. His next victim was ready.

* * *

B had placed her in a secluded storage room off of the alley and left as though nothing had happened. He had gone back to the hotel, then, to grab Sophia, and once it was dark picked up Misa and drove her to Aoyama. The next murder scene. It was at a hideout there that they did their work. Here and now, Beyond began undressing her top half, only removing her shirt and bra. While B held her arms, raising her torso, Sophia wrapped a linen cloth around her breasts to serve as a shirt. As an added touch, she wrapped the cloth around one shoulder a few times. Once this was finished, B laid her face-down on the table and flipped out a switchblade.

He slowly, carefully began etching symbols into her back. _To ĸoutí της Πανδώρας_, was the first thing he wrote, scrawled in red across her shoulder blades. Then, _ανθρωπότητα_, over and over in different places below the wrapped cloth. Sophia was on the computer, making sure the translations were correct. _Αιμοβορία_, he wrote. _Λήξη_, then. _Θάνατος_, and then, finally, in a bigger font, _λύπη_. The blood from the symbols swelled and spilled, dripping onto the table and staining the linen red. He gently turned her over onto her back, and Misa grimaced ever so slightly in her sedation. He'd given her more than the normal amount so she would stay asleep a bit longer, but it _had _been awhile, after all…. Nevertheless, he proceeded to etch a single word onto her stomach: _αμαρτία_.

Sin.

From there he removed her shorts (but as he was considerate he allowed her to keep her underpants) and redressed her in a pair of black shorts labeled with '_Princess_' in bright pink letters. Now that she was dressed and ready to go, they set out into the night, to the area of Aoyama less used at night but filled with bustling citizens during the day. Hidden in an alley they had their props for tonight: a cross, a dagger, some rope, a ladder, and a decorative little jewelry box with but two coins stashed inside. Sophia helped B lay Misa out on the life-size cross (_How fitting for her_, he thought.) and began tying her down with different lengths of rope. Her feet and hands were bound, and it was almost as though they were performing a crucifixion. But, of course, that wasn't the case.

It was Beyond who had to do most of the work in standing the cross up, as Sophia was only nine and with her childish physique couldn't help much. Once it was in place and the cross stood tall in the middle of the empty street, Sophia carefully set the jewelry box at the base. B, meanwhile, set the ladder against the cross and began to climb, and the moment Sophia had situated the box she steadied the ladder so B wouldn't tip. He held his hand out to Sophia, and she passed up the dagger to him.

Misa stirred. In the dim, almost non-existent light, Beyond could see her eyes flicker and open slightly. Her eyes were unfocused and half-lidded, but she was awake. He leaned in and whispered to her, "_Hush, my dear, go back to sleep_," as though he were a mother coaxing her child back into slumber. But instead of rocking her to sleep, he took the dagger and thrust it into her chest.

She made a little choking sound, the sound of her breath being caught in her throat. Her eyes did not widen, nor did they close. And, on her dying breath, she whispered but one word; a name. "_Light_…." She gave a little cough and blood dribbled from her mouth down to her chin. A single tear rolled down her cheek. Her half-lidded eyes grew dull. Beyond, satisfied, lowered himself from his place, and they soon left the scene, leaving Misa's body to grow cold until morning light….

* * *

_**Fun Fact**_**: ****Misa's name actually does mean 'beautiful bloom,' but the writers of Death Note intended it to be derived from the word for 'black mass': _kuromisa_.**

**Review? For...Misa?...**


	13. Chapter 13

_**Akane**_**: **Well, I'm sorry to have made you sad, but you know, it's good to feel a bit of sympathy. We'll find out how some of the girls react in this chapter, though~ Ahh...poor Misa. Here's the next chapter, dear; I hope it pleases you. Although, Light has been _dis_couraging Misa from the eye trade more recently, ever since he lost his memories for good. So, I guess it would be Kira Light's fault, in a way? But not this Light... Ah, I'm giving myself a headache, haha~ Though you're right. If Rem were alive, they may very well have been dead. But Misa also would have died earlier if Rem hadn't given her lifespan to Misa. Hmm...

_**Random**_**: **Yeahh...poor Misa. BB deserves a nice scolding for not letting her die peacefully. Ahh... Well, we'll find Natalie's reaction in this chapter, then, eh? Along with the others'~

_**Reader**_**: **Yeah...Misa's gone. :c Poor Misa indeed.

_**Mysterious Guest**_**: **Aww, I'm sorry for making you sad... But at least it means I'm doing my job as a writer and evoking emotions in my readers. Poor girl...  
Yeah, he did keep his legs in his freezer. xD Granted, he worked in a morgue, but...still. I have a weird family. xD No offense taken.

_**The Reading Kind**_**: **Yeahh, I almost forgot too, actually. xD That would have been not-good.  
Mhm, you're right. Natalie does know who BB is...now it just takes some smarticles to piece together the fact it's BB committing the murders. I understand your sympathy for Misa; really, I do... It's nice of you to want her to run, dear. Though in the end she may have died anyway... Mm, she's not a complete idiot. She was suspicious of him; of course. She's a celebrity, and after all, a stalker once tried to kill her. So...there's that. But evidently she's still pretty innocent, otherwise she wouldn't have let BB lead her into that alley at all, haha.  
You know, you're right. It is the perfect name.  
...Pandora makes me happy now. xD That's perfect~

_**Guest**_**: **Oh yes~ Too bad she didn't live to tell the tale...  
Oh, was it? Hmmm~

_**Mrs. Lawliet**_**: **My brother moved out before I was born~  
Ahh, even though she was annoying, we must hold some sympathy for her in her death... Poor girl.

**Wow...I got lots of reviews last chapter~ Maybe I should kill people off more often...**

**Ahaha, just kidding.**

**But we've reached 100 reviews, and we know what this means! Double update~**

**Not only that, but it's the thirteenth chapter, and _that _means _BB is haunting this chapter_! :D ...Oh, BB...**

**In any case, enjoy the chapter~**

* * *

I never watched the news. Light did, so I suppose in a way I did too, but he didn't watch the news the next morning. It was a normal beginning-of-the-day routine, and nothing seemed wrong or different in any way. Anna ate her donuts, I ate my toast, and once we all ate we headed to our respective workplaces. Light checked Misa's apartment to see if she'd come home yet. She wasn't there, which worried me. She would have been back by now, wouldn't she? To try to get Light back. I assured myself that she was fine as I made my way to the police station. Light had actually made a breakthrough with the murder cases we were currently working on. The hints we were given; he could decode the past ones. It was only a matter of figuring out the current one. His theory was the blue triangle told us the next murder would be in Aoyama. Why? The Japanese word for blue was _ao_, and mountain was _yama_. Blue mountain; it was a _mountain_; _that's _what it was! _Ao no yama. Aoyama._ We were surprised we hadn't thought of it sooner. Now it was only a matter of figuring out the pattern of killing, for of course there had to be a pattern. This killer was setting out a puzzle to solve, here….

So, we got to HQ; he got there a few minutes before me. He was just stepping in the elevator when I came in, and I sped up my pace so I wouldn't be stuck waiting for the elevator's next ride. I made it, of course, the doors closing right behind me, and we went upwards in silence. As we walked out onto our floor and entered the main room, Ide was the one who greeted us. He looked grim. "There's a meeting in Aizawa's office," he told us, and we nodded simultaneously. The three of us began walking towards the office, then.

"Another murder?" asked Light. Ide gave a sound of confirmation as we entered the smaller room to find Mogi and Matsuda already there. Ugh, I hated being the last one here. But then… we lived farther from headquarters than the others, so….

The first thing I noticed when I entered was the fact Matsuda looked pale. What was wrong? We remembered why we were here. Another murder. Who was killed? Well, we'd find out soon enough, we decided, and looked to Aizawa. He looked at us and cleared his throat. Matsuda looked to us too. "The killer of these cases has struck again." He pulled out some files. "The next murder victim was Misa Amane." He paused. Let it sink in.

Both of us were shocked. When you're a cop that works cases like this, it doesn't usually occur to you that the killer might go for someone you know. (Especially not when you're acting as Kira.) And then, as humans, you typically don't worry a close friend will die all the time. So, at first, that's all we were: shocked. It didn't make sense at first. To me, anyway. As humans, we weren't able to emotionally comprehend it quite yet (no, for now we'd be numb), but logically speaking we understood. Misa had been killed by whoever was the murderer. Her lifespan had run out. She was dead.

Aizawa still hadn't spoken again. His hands were still on his desk, on the papers, and his gaze was still staring past the wood. He looked up. "Light, Natalie, I will have to let you off this case."

Matsuda was the first to respond. "What? You can't do that! Light is the one helping us most in this; this isn't any ordinary killer!"

Aizawa held up a hand to tell Matsuda to stop. "Matsuda, I know. But both of them are now personally involved with the case, and we can't have that. As chief, I must expulse them from this case because of that fact."

Light, who by then had composed himself, straightened up and said, "That is true, Chief Aizawa, but we—"

He was interrupted by a beeping sound, and Aizawa blinked before pressing a button to receive the message. The screen in the room lit up, a calligraphic L in the center. "L?" Matsuda asked blankly.

"What does he want?" Ide muttered.

"Hello," he said, his voice distorted, "I assume you have gotten the information on Misa Amane already, correct?"

"Yes," Aizawa replied promptly. "We are currently working on those murder cases."

"I know," L informed him, and Aizawa frowned. "I am contacting you to inform you that I am now working on and taking over this case."

"Along with the Kira case?" Matsuda asked bemusedly. "Isn't that a bit much?"

"I can assure you I will be fine."

"What business do you have on this case?" Aizawa questioned, a hint of irritation creeping into his tone.

"Chief Aizawa, first off, this killer is challenging me directly. You cannot see it, but I can, and thus I must act accordingly. Second, the killer has just murdered Misa Amane, originally the second Kira and a current suspect of the Kira case. He's involving the other case I am working on, at this point."

Aizawa clenched his teeth. "So are you just kicking all of us off, then?" he asked, keeping his voice level.

"Quite the contrary, Chief Aizawa. If you'll allow it, I would like the task force for this case to work under me. You may continue your work, and I will get my information from you, giving my perception of each murder in return. Would this be alright?"

Aizawa furrowed his brow and showed the beginnings of a scowl. "Of course. It's fine."

"Good."

"Wait, can Natalie and Light stay on the case, then?" Matsuda asked.

"That," said L, "would be up to Chief Aizawa. Once this is decided, please go about your day as normal. I will contact you this afternoon." He disconnected, and the screen went dark.

Aizawa sighed. "Light and Natalie, you two can have the day off today."

"There's no need," said Light. "Just because of this, it doesn't mean I can't still…."

"Just take the day. You can come back tomorrow if you're up for it."

I just nodded blankly, and Aizawa waited for us to go before he continued on with the meeting. ("Ide, you check the crime scene. Mogi, you figure out where she was staying Monday night. Matsuda… you help Mogi.")

We walked for awhile; Light was contemplating what he should do with this spare time while I thought about what had happened. As we walked, we eventually split off to go our separate ways, but of course our minds were still in sync so in a way we never parted. After the initial shock wore off and the reality sunk into mine and his mind, I began feeling guilt, creeping slowly into my conscious. I was going to change her lifespan. She would have been saved. But I let her go. And now she was dead. It made me feel kinda sick…. Not only that, but she died right after finding out about me and Light, which only made it worse.

No, no, don't think about lifespans and self-fault (even though it was only logic). I wasn't the one who killed her. I wasn't the one who took her life, and she didn't deserve to die. I lifted my arm to wipe the tears that had been unwillingly building in my eyes, taking a deep breath. (Must be old Natalie trying to resurface; huh.) That killer was the fool who murdered her. Yes, he deserved to die. Kira would take care of him for sure….

* * *

Gevanni's image appeared on the messaging screen with a beep. "Near," he said, "Misa Amane has—"

"I know," Near interrupted, his eyes dark. He was gazing at a different screen at the moment, a larger one that had the news displayed on it. There was Misa, hung on a cross with some message inscribed into her stomach. Her eyes were partially open, so the murderer had been sick enough to have his victim awake when he killed her. This, Near deciphered, was a part of the serial murder case that the task force was currently working on.

Gevanni only nodded. "Of course," he replied. "I'll be at headquarters soon."

"Alright." Near disconnected.

Anna was still staring at the screen in utter horror. Misa, dead? That couldn't be. She'd come over for dinner just that Sunday. She'd fought with Aunt Natalie, me, only two days ago. She couldn't be dead, just like that. It didn't make sense. Yet… there she was, on the television screen, the news announcers pronouncing her to have been murdered. But… Near said she was working as Kira. She was the killer, not the killed. Things didn't just switch around like that. Killed by a criminal; talk about turning the tables. Those tables went a full one hundred eighty degrees.

Anna could feel her eyes stinging as they began to water. Her jaw began to ache when she tried to stop herself from actually crying. Whether Misa was Kira or not, Anna considered her a friend. And now, Misa was dead. She hastily wiped the tears from her eyes. She could feel Near's irritation nagging at her mind, but it didn't bother her all that much. It only made her want the killer caught even more. Besides, she was sure Near could feel her feelings of loss in return.

And, of course, he could. He sat there staring at the screen displaying the news, irritation plain in his eyes and sadness from Anna concealed within his mind. The feeling was ignored, and his thoughts were set on the killer of Misa Amane. He wasn't even really watching the news in front of him. ("We're not sure what the killer was trying to say with the symbols on Misa-Misa's stomach and back; perhaps it's some cryptic code?" said the news anchor. Yeah, Near didn't care about that.) He honestly couldn't care less about the killer, actually. He typically wasn't affected by Japan's criminals, but whoever this killer was had just killed a main suspect of the Kira case. The second Kira; an accomplice of the main killer of this small group of Kiras. Now Near was involved, and he wasn't happy with the fact this murderer had screwed up his current plan. Perhaps he'd have to do something about him, if he could…. Of course, he'd have to learn more about the case before he could do anything, and besides, right now he just needed to rework his deductions and plans to fit the fact that Misa was now dead.

Yes, for now, that was all he would do. Sorry, Anna, there would be a bit more waiting to endure.

* * *

Sam lay on her bed, her arms curled above her head as a pillow. It was already the next morning, and she was wide awake, but she wasn't getting up quite yet. She was having a nice time just staring at the ceiling and contemplating things. Her mind wandered to the current case; the one with B as the culprit, not Light or myself or Mikami. She tried to, however, not ponder too much on evidence and decoding clues. She did that all the time; she was technically doing that every day, whenever L did such a thing. She decided, instead, to think about Misa.

She supposed there was actually a part of her that didn't mind her dead. Sam had never liked her that much. I mean, she _did_, but…. Well, she didn't _miss_ her, really. Misa had been rather annoying, to be honest, but she had to say it was a bit saddening to know she was dead. And there was that other half of her – L, I mean to say – that was disheartened by her death as a fellow human being. A sense of guilt, there was, for the knowledge that if they'd decoded the pattern faster she wouldn't have died. A sense of justice that made them want to catch B even more. Now that they were on the case, they felt determined to stop anyone else from dying.

Sam sighed, then sat up. She gazed out the window right above her bookshelf; outside the leaves of the maple tree rustled and swayed in the wind. Blinking, she looked to the door, then swung her legs over the side of the bed and got to her feet. Trying to make her hair more presentable as she walked, she made her way down the stairs to find no one was home. Figures. After all, Anna had the SPK to go to, and I….

She furrowed her brow when she saw me lounging on the couch, reading the newspaper. (I'd found the thing to be actually quite informative.) _Right, _she thought, _she was probably kicked off the case she was on. It's likely she doesn't have any business at NPA headquarters._

"Good morning, Sam," I greeted without looking up, turning a page.

"Yeah, hi," she responded in turn, heading to the kitchen to grab a donut or two for breakfast. "Not going to work today?"

"There's no point." I flipped another page. Oh, hey, criminals to kill. "Aizawa is keeping us off the Sinful Murder Cases." My mouth twitched. "A silly name, isn't it?" Smile gone, I closed the newspaper with a sigh. "We guess it's for the better, anyway. Misa's death really threw us off. I don't know what to think… and it makes me feel kinda sick and guilty knowing she's dead."

"Why, 'cause she found out about you and Light right before she died?" Sam inquired, her mouth stuffed with donut.

"Something like that."

She swallowed, then shrugged. "Light never liked her anyway."

"But it still makes me feel bad." I looked at her. "Do you want to go to her funeral?"

Sam only blinked, slightly taken aback by the question.

"Well," I mumbled, my gaze wandering back to the newspaper, then to the window, "you weren't that close to her. I guess it wouldn't really be right."

"Are you planning the funeral?" she asked me blankly.

I shook my head. "No, Light's doing that. He needs to do something with all of the spare time Aizawa's giving him, right? Besides, someone needed to do it…. Light already went to NPA headquarters this morning to confirm with Aizawa that her body would be ready by Saturday morning…. You can come to the wake, if you want…."

"Well… thanks. Sorry about you being kicked off the case, by the way."

"Oh, that's fine; it has nothing to do with you. So, L is taking over the case?"

"Yeah…."

I tilted my head. "Why? Just because the murderer challenged him?"

Sam waved off my questions. "Reasons; there are reasons."

I frowned, thinking about it a moment. "Is it… is it the same guy as last time? Those murder cases that jumped around the world. Is this him? It's just a guess…."

She looked at me. "It is," she told me, and got to her feet. "I'm going to where L is now; we have things to work on. Sorry for leaving you here alone."

"It's fine," I smiled, and she made her way out the door.

She breathed in the warm, late spring air. It wouldn't be long before it became summer. Ah, summer. How she loved summer so…. Even though it didn't necessarily affect her daily life anymore, she still enjoyed the warm days, the summer sun, daydreams of going to the beach…. When was the last time she'd been on a beach, she wondered? Back in February, it was, and it was only to try to make our way back home…. And before that… she wasn't so sure she remembered. Way back in 2004, when she'd ran off to America after my plan to stop Light from regaining his memories didn't work. And that hadn't been a very relaxing time, either.

She sighed. She'd have to go to the beach sometime this summer. It was, after all, her favorite place in the world.

While Sam daydreamed, Beyond spotted her from the shadows as she came off the driveway and into the street. Casually, he walked a safe distance behind her. It was time to find out where L was staying, currently. Yes, his next act would be a bit interesting. Although, all he wanted was a nice chat with Samantha. He wasn't going to try to kill her, he wasn't going to fight her or L, and he wasn't even going to go armed. He wanted only to appear to her, and her alone, thus frightening her and giving the possibility of a reduction in the percentage of hers and L's deductive abilities. Not only that, but he wanted to know L's Bond a little better. Who was the great L Bonded to? He simply _had _to test her. To do all of this, of course, he had to convince her he was L again… which would be painfully difficult with the Bond in place.

…Which was exactly why he wanted to try it. Beyond, after all, always loved a challenge.

So, upon discovering the hotel they roomed in for the moment, he had Sophia hack into the system of the hotel. While he waited, he went to a café nearby to have some breakfast. It was a westernized place, so he asked for pancakes with a side of strawberry jam. And of course he was specific with that. Jelly, he said, he would not accept. And with a nervous laugh, the waitress complied to his wishes.

Just as the food came, Sophia hacked into the hotel's system, and so he smiled sincerely when he got his food. Well, it was more of a smirk that seemed to creep the waitress out a little, but that was fine. Close enough. Now he could have his sugary pancakes and strawberry jam. He ate the pancakes first, happy to find it was topped with an exceptional amount of whipped cream, plus a few strawberries as an added touch. Then, of course, he ate the strawberry jam by itself. At least he was courteous enough to eat it with a spoon rather than his hands. Although, he did earn a few odd looks, one of which was from his poor waitress.

He then left a check, and was off. Samantha and L were in room 20-03, on the top floor. It only figured, knowing it was L. Only a few of the people working for room service were allowed up into the room, and even then they couldn't enter on request of L himself. Or rather, Ryuu Shion, the name L was currently using for this hotel. It was the name that he was most likely to choose, and so B knew that must be him. Now, he only had to go in at the right time, and act as one of the people who worked for room service. He'd pretend to be a new recruit. And then… all he had to do was add some sedatives to his drink. Watari would probably intercept him and take the drink to L himself. L would suspect nothing, and he would fall asleep.

Then he could make his move.

Well then, it was time to make his preparations.

* * *

_**Fun Fact**_**: Newspapers have always confused me, actually. They fall apart whenever I even attempt to read them.**

**Review? For BB's stalker-ish-ness? .-.**


	14. Chapter 14

_**Amy**_**: **Yayy! :D And here, you shall find out!

_**Mrs. Lawliet**_**: **L and Mello's past _will _come up in this story; I promise. In the next one, Matt's will. Not sure yet when Near's will come up in full, but it will. Even BB's will come up. c: All of it's a part of this~

_**Mysterious Guest**_**: **Well, normally they are, but every so often you find something interesting...like that article I found about a genius child. It was actually rather sad... Aw, I'm sorry for your sister. I mean, it's both a good thing and I bad thing, I guess... Hm. Well, at least you get to see her more often, ne? Ehh, BB is the way he is because...I guess in a way that's how he grew up. Maybe it isn't really his fault; I mean, he grew up seeing death everywhere, right? Blah. Ahh, maybe I'll have Real-Life Sierra pet your hair~ I'm sure she'd enjoy it~ (Actually, she's sitting behind me right now. She says you're awesome. :3)  
Ah! Happy Fourth of July to you too! :D

_**Random**_**: **Yeahh...we're losing her, aren't we? Ahh, Natalie... Whelp, hope you enjoy the scene; it be right here~_  
_

**BB really needs to stop stalking Sam. =.=;**

**Happy Fourth of July if you're American? If not, I hope you have a wonderfully wonderful day~**

* * *

Sam was sleeping. She'd stayed too late at the hotel again, and L had led her to the bedroom to rest. She was asleep the moment her head hit the pillow. It was, of course, better than falling asleep right beside L, like last time. She found herself dozing off, but L was able to get her to bed. L, meanwhile, was in the other room, working. Roger came in at some point to give him some tea. Roger wasn't as efficient as Watari, and didn't make L's tea as often, instead allowing the workers at the hotel to prepare it. Once he could better make tea, he swore to make it for him every time, but until then he would rely on hotels. Soon after Roger served L his tea, he left again.

L found himself falling into darkness….

Sam was awoken by someone prodding her shoulder incessantly. Her eyes opened blearily, though she was more asleep than she was awake. Drowsiness clouded her thoughts. She wasn't awake at all, really, but she wasn't quite asleep, either. Before her was L, smiling ever so slightly down at her. "L," she mumbled, "why aren't you working?" Something seemed horribly off about him, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Her brain was too dead. But… he seemed too distant. Like he was no longer a part of that never-ending Bond they shared. But that couldn't be… the Bond could never be severed. And besides, he didn't feel him in any other place. It must have been her imagination.

B was rather satisfied with this. She thought he was L, just as he'd hoped. "I just wanted to check on you, Samantha," he said in the most L-like voice he could create.

"Did you have to wake me up?"

He leaned closer to her face, keeping his own expression blank. "I'm sorry, Samantha. There is a new development, you see."

She blinked slowly. "Really?"

"Yes," he said, leaning ever closer to her. L did have a habit of invading personal space. "I do believe B will be caught soon. Isn't that wonderful?"

"It's great," she agreed. She gave him an odd look. "Why are you leaning so close to my face?"

He blinked. Oh well. "Well, I—" he began, but Sam leaned in to kiss him.

What?

Well then, he hadn't foreseen this piece of Sam and L's relationship, but….

Now what?

Was he supposed to kiss back?

Or he could pull away and pretend to laugh, alerting her that he wasn't L. But that wouldn't really scare her as much as it would make her feel like an idiot. His goal was to freak her out, not to make her feel foolish.

Kissing back it is.

And of course he'd stay in character as the creepy, messed-up murderer once the kiss was over. Because, of course, if she kissed someone she thought she knew, but right after he smirked and leaned in to glare tauntingly into her eyes, he did believe that would be a bit creepy. Almost like a nightmare. And the fact that he would actually kiss back would make him seem rather twisted. And that, after all, was his job: making himself look like a creepy, evil killer with a warped mind.

Sam, on the other hand, immediately sensed something was wrong when their lips touched. At first it was just that odd distance again, the fact that they didn't feel in sync, but then….

He tasted like strawberries.

L did not taste like strawberries.

L tasted like sugary candy sticks; like the sweet taste Root Beer leaves on your lips.

L almost tasted like Dr. Pepper, for Pete's sake.

Not strawberries.

So she opened her eyes and pulled back, looking closer at this supposed L as she willed her mind to wake the hell up.

This L look-alike smiled darkly, and Sam could swear his eyes were glowing red. But then, that could just be her eyes being dramatic. In any case, she knew one thing for sure: that was _not _L.

"Nice meeting you again," B greeted, his voice low and even menacing.

Sam stared at him dumbly for a second, then decidedly rolled away from him, jumping to her feet the moment she reached the other end of the bed. "What the hell is _wrong _with you?!" she cried.

He gave a little _heh_. "I get that a lot."

"L… you sedated him, didn't you?! You ass!"

"Yes," B confirmed nonchalantly.

"Again: what is _wrong _with you?!"

"Oh, come on, I only wanted a chat." He curled the corners of his mouth upward again. "And I can make anything possible."

"Dude. Why the hell did you kiss me?" she asked flatly.

"If I remember correctly, you kissed me, not the other way around."

Sam let out a wail. "That just isn't _right_!"

"A lot of things involved with me aren't '_right_.'"

"Get the hell out of here!"

"I see I am unwanted. That's too bad."

"It's too bad I can't arrest you here and now."

"Who, me? For what?"

"I'm pretty sure you know damn well what. Now _get the hell out_."

He smiled. This was L's Bond? Funny. If she were intelligent...or skilled physically...she would have tried to detain him here and now. Obviously L's Bond was... well, she wasn't as good as L. He didn't think he was underestimating her, either, and he was very careful with that after what happened with Naomi Misora. Once L woke up, though, she would be inevitably smarter... He wondered if, perhaps, she'd be skilled in capoeira as L was. Interesting. In this evaluation he'd found Samantha to be interesting...although a bit disappointing. He expected more of someone who became L's Bond. Oh well. But he decided to humor her nonetheless. "Of course, Samantha." He gave a little bow. "I suppose I'll see you again soon enough." And he left, leaving Sam confused, feeling violated, and now wide awake. The first thing she did was check on L. He was still sedated. He eventually woke up, of course.

They moved to a new hotel the next morning.

* * *

As for Light and I, Light spent his time planning the funeral while I went to the NPA building to train. I still wasn't perfect when it came to shooting guns, so I suppose it was good to work on that. I would occasionally help with the funeral preparations, but not much. Not being on that case irked me immensely, but I supposed it did no good to think too much about it.

Saturday, June 12 was Misa's funeral. She had tons of friends, so she had people to care for her. People to cry for her. Light was the one who gave the eulogy, and even though I knew every word he would say before he said it, the speech moved me, to be honest. Misa; dead. It was unthinkable. And by a criminal, no less. You would think she'd be killed because of L, or Near, or Mello. But… she ended up killed by the hand of a lowly murderer. It was cruelly ironic and simply unfair. Criminals were the scum of the world… she was above them… how did it come to her being killed by one?

She was beautiful, even in death, of course. A laced Lolita dress clothed her – just like her to wear that, even now – covering the marks on her stomach. Her golden hair wasn't pulled into two little ponytails atop her head; instead it lay around her head and seemed to flow downward to where her elbows bent…. Her hands rested peacefully on her chest, and her face was made up beautifully by the mortician. She honestly looked like she was only sleeping, and I know that's been said thousands of times in other stories, but it's true. She looked… at peace. I could only hope she was…. Ryuk had never specified if those who forfeited before they died still went to Heaven or Hell. He just said 'those who use this note will neither go to Heaven nor Hell.' Of course, that implied she'd just end up in Nothingness whether she forfeited or not, but I suppose I could hope there was peace there, too. It really depended upon what was meant by 'Nothingness.' Did you cease to exist altogether; or were you constantly aware of the lack of feeling, the lack of being, the lack of _anything _for all eternity? I could only hope it was the former, and not the latter. I could feel anxiety sink into my chest at these thoughts, but Light's influence quickly eased them, and I was fine.

That didn't stop the tears from coming once they were lowering her into the ground, though.

Here I was, a girl who didn't even _belong _in this world, messing up poor Misa's love life. Not only that, but _I could have saved her_. If I'd grabbed her arm, not letting go, and wished for home with all my might, she might not be dead at that moment. I could have stopped her; I knew it. But what _could _have been doesn't matter, a part of me would remind myself. It didn't matter if it was me or Light, but it was true. All that mattered now was what _was_, at that very moment.

And, at that moment, I had to say goodbye to someone I considered a friend. Because of the Death Note, I couldn't just believe she'd moved on to someplace peaceful. It wasn't that simple anymore. I could always hope, though, and so I hoped and hoped as I watched the casket go lower into the ground. But as the preacher spoke kind words and I realized I'd never see her again, the tears came, at first only slow, one by one, but eventually falling a littler faster to the point where I was trembling and shaking as they slid down my cheeks.

Never again would she taunt me playfully (or sometimes murderously). Never again would she smile. Never again would she joke around with people like Matsuda. Never again would she see her Light. Never again will she truly _live_. She'd never see the New World come to fruition, if it ever did, and so she'd never see Light's dreams come true. And of course I knew that would make her happy, because Light would be happy and she only wanted to please Light. She was stubborn, sure, but she really did love him…. I honestly felt so bad for her.

It was eventually time for the funeral to conclude, and the people began to slowly disperse, red-eyed or somber or both. Near said we were bad people because of what we did; what we were doing. Well, at least Misa had someone to cry at her funeral. Multiple someones. Who did Near have? Anna? The SPK, maybe? But that was all.

I was there when Light bade his farewells to his mother and his sister. Sachiko mentioned how horrible it all was; first Sayu getting kidnapped, then Soichiro's unfortunate death, and now this. She gave her son a warm hug, then smiled reassuringly at me and teared up a bit before giving me a hug too. Sayu, at least, was long out of her wheelchair. Her eyes were a bit hollow at the funeral, but that was only to be expected. She was hugged by both of us too before they got in their car. Light's mother smiled again and gave him something he'd asked for beforehand before they left, and Light thanked her. Sachiko and Sayu then drove away.

In Light's arm now was a bouquet of white chrysanthemums. Beautiful, really. We walked in silence back to Misa's grave, just to be able to set the white flowers at the base of her tombstone. He knelt down carefully, riffling through the blooms to make sure they were perfect.

"What're those?" asked Ryuk, pointing to the chrysanthemums. It was the first time he'd spoken throughout the whole funeral.

Light smiled ever so slightly before looking up to the shinigami. "They're white chrysanthemums, Ryuk." He looked down to the bouquet again, picking two white roses out of the bouquet of chrysanthemums. "They represent grief and mourning and, of course, death. They're often used in funerals." He got to his feet, holding the two blossoms and turning them as if to inspect. "There's a language of flowers, you know, Ryuk. It's a way for humans to communicate without speaking. For example, if I were to give someone a daffodil, then that would mean I respect them. Then the freesia is the flower of immaturity…." He gave a little _heh_, then allowed his expression to darken again. It soon softened, though, as it always did eventually. He handed me one of the white roses, placing his hands over mine to curl my fingers around it, making sure not to stab me with the thorns. "And the white rose," he said, "means innocence; silence and devotion." He let go of my hands at this, but continued to face me.

I only looked down at the rose, twirling it around slowly with my fingers.

"So our Light knows a lot about flowers, then?" Ryuk asked, sounding rather amused.

Light looked up at him again. "My mother knows a lot about flowers," he corrected him. "When I was younger, she used to talk about them with me, and as a good child, I would listen. I remember most of what I'm taught, even with things like that. Sayu, of course, enjoyed the topic more than I did as a kid."

"Oh," Ryuk replied, and Light began walking away, me following behind. "Hey, where are you going now? The exit's the other way…."

"We're going to my father's grave," Light answered simply.

Ryuk made a little sound of surprise, then was quiet.

We passed by multiple gravestones on the way, none of which had names I recognized etched into their stone faces. The sun was beginning to set, making the sky a burning red color that I can say set the mood of a funeral well. Soichiro's grave wasn't that far from Misa's, and so it didn't take long to get there.

"What're you coming here for?" the shinigami inquired, looking down at the tombstone engraved with the name Soichiro Yagami.

Light only looked down at the white rose in his hand as the breeze blew on by, making the rose sway and ruffling our clothes and hair. "We can't be slowed by what happened last Wednesday. Just because Misa is an ally doesn't mean we can be affected, for we must go forward to be able to create the New World. Things like grief and mourning aren't things we really have time for. With what we're doing, we, of all people, should understand that death is inevitable. It must eventually come, and after all we're all risking our lives to do this. We've committed ourselves to this dream, and this isn't something to be taken lightly. It's not any small goal. We have to give our hearts and souls – even our minds, if we have to – to create the world we want to create. We're killing countless people, and we know that in itself isn't holy. However….

"We, as Kira, are sacrificing our own purity, to be within the blackness to dispose of the bad. We're the light within the darkness that's shining ever brighter in order to cleanse this world. But… in doing something of this scale, ridding the world of all evil and becoming justice, creating a _whole new world_… is it even right to say we're completely human at this point? We're standing above it all, now, and we have to; it's us who must lead the world in the right direction, because of course who else can do it? We know we're mortal, but we're mortals with the power of a god and with the right to act as such. We've become a holy icon to the world.

"Yet… in order to be truly God-like, to be _truly _above humankind… things such as death should mean nothing. Misa is dead now, and we must continue onward no matter what. We must do whatever is necessary. Even if someone close to us ends up killed in the process, it'll all go to creating a better world. We need to act without hesitation or bias. We need to be above humanity. The only thing is to throw it away. We'll admit we are human, and so only so much can be accomplished, but here and now we will begin our ascent. This…" – he set the white rose on the top of his father's tombstone – "…is my final apology to Father, and my last goodbye." His hand wavered near the rose for a moment, but then it dropped to his side. Light's eyes were shrouded by his hair.

"…Huh," Ryuk remarked, then chuckled darkly. "This'll be interesting, eh?"

There was some hidden part of me that was hit by Light's speech. It was this part that said it wasn't a good thing, that humanity was something to be cherished, that it was right to mourn and cry over loss, that if you tried to get rid of it all it would be just like last time and so Light would become corrupted all over again. It said that it was Light clinging to what was about to be gotten rid of that kept him from becoming so corrupted. It was this part of me that was saddened in knowing this was what was to happen. So, I shed but a single tear as I gazed at him. I was actually slightly surprised as it trickled down my cheek.

It was then Light's hand grasped mine as we both gazed down at Light's father's grave, each of us filled with the same longing, the same sadness, and the same thoughts swirling in our heads. We knew we'd be fine, though. He knew and I knew that he was beginning to lose himself, but that was okay. In the end, I'd always be at his side, and as long as we were together we were sure we'd be fine. It was really going to be alright. We would create the New World, and no matter what happened, we'd still be with the other. It's always lonely at the very top of the world, but we had each other. And even if one of us was eventually killed, we'd die together anyway. It was much better than losing yourself all alone to the point where you have nothing but that one ambition left….

Thus, we moved forward.

* * *

_**Fun Fact**_**: The song _Together Burning Bright _by The Used helped me to create that last bit of that last scene there.**

**Review? For humanity?**


	15. Chapter 15

_**Mysterious Guest**_**: **Thank you, and you too! ...If I haven't said that to you yet. I forget.  
I've actually been to two funerals myself. One was for my grandpa, and the other was for my grandma. Hmm... I'll tell Sierra what you've said~  
_Dead Bite_ by Hollywood Undead? I love that song! I actually think of it as kinda both Light and BB, you know? It's a song that has a little bit of every person that might, you know, kill someone. I actually think of every line as a new person. Like, one might be Light or BB, but another might be Jeff the Killer, or Matt, or someone from some other anime. You know? It's an everyone-who-kills kind of song~ At least... that's how I think of it. .u.  
You're transferring, huh? I hope you find friends there~ I'm sure you will. :) Even just a few friends, even only one, is a wonderful thing.  
Kayaking sounds fun. I don't think I've ever kayaked, that I can think of... I went in a canoe before, though. And a raft. ...And a boat.  
My 4th of July was great. I spent it with my nieces, and Real-life Anna's mom (along with my brother; the nieces' dad) took us all to the fireworks. c: It was nice.

_**Mrs. Lawliet**_**: **You know, I feel bad for her too... Yeahhh, I did spend a lot of time purifying him, didn't I? ^^; Maybe that's why it made me so sad when he started getting corrupt all over again... Blah...  
Mhm, Matt's story~ It'll be a bit before it comes in, though. It's actually something I haven't written yet, haha.

_**Amy**_**: **They are, aren't they? Ahh... That's a good way to put it, too...

**Real-Life Sierra would like me to tell all of you wonderful readers that she says hi. So yeah.**

**Enjoy the chapter~**

* * *

Hoshi Takahashi was found the next morning in Ginza, which L had apparently been expecting. Takahashi was a stiff-looking man with a perfectly shaven chin and a trim haircut. He'd had been burned on the cheek; branded with the universal symbol of hatred known as the swastika. L made the background check on him immediately, for he was finding the backgrounds to be rather important: Takahashi was the head of a Samsung company store in Ginza, but as L knew, Samsung wasn't a very popular company at all in Japan. It only made sense that his rival was the head of the Apple company store, and the two men had hated each other for the longest time. Swastika; the symbol of hate. Hatred between two rival companies. Hoshi Takahashi's trouble to society was hatred.

Beside Takahashi's body was a small turtle figure with a bag upon its back. In the bag the brand used to burn the man's cheek had been found. This could only be the clue to the next location, but L couldn't make anything of it quite yet.

He'd known today's murder would be in Ginza, though. Why? At Misa's murder scene, there had been a box at the foot of her cross, and in it, there were two coins. Old coins, from the old silver-coin mint that had been established there back in the 1800's.

Now… the symbols engraved into Misa's skin was all in Greek, and L could decipher each word. 'Humanity,' 'cruelty,' 'death,' 'regret,' 'sin,' and 'end' were all words inscribed there. One other thing, though, scrawled across her shoulder blades, were the words 'Pandora's box.' All of the other words etched with what was most likely a knife were caused by the old Greek myth of Pandora's box, in which Pandora, the first woman on Earth, opened a forbidden box and thus released all of the horrors of the world.

Now, there had been four murders thus far in these murder cases B had created to challenge L. The pattern of which person he was to kill next had to do with a specific trouble to society, and the victim's background had to match their specified hindrance. Sayuri Sakamoto, for example, had sickness. Then Kenta Gakusha, the second murder victim, had obsession. Misa Amane had Pandora's box, and, finally, Hoshi Takahashi had hatred. Sickness; obsession; Pandora's box; hatred. Now the only thing was to find what the pattern with those was…. Something was out of place with Pandora's box; could that be it…?

What's more, B had led him to a little discovery the other night. Thursday; you know, the day Sam mistakenly kissed B. It was a little thing that he noticed; that was all. It was an implication that could mean a lot if only he could prove it. B had sedated L, and it hadn't affected Sam, you see. It didn't surprise him, really; in fact, it was a given that sedatives would only affect the one sedated, whether the person was Bonded or not. However, B had drawn his attention to it, because it implied that there could be a loophole in the Bond.

Two people Bonded together had the same injuries, and so would die at the same time. Everything that happened to one would happen to the other. Yet, when one was put to sleep with sedatives, the other wasn't affected at all. Could this mean, then, that there were other things, like sedatives, that could affect one, but not the other? For example, what if one of them had an accidental overdose and died, would the other live on or would they still die together anyway?

It was because of this little development that L decided to test it. He wasn't going to kill anyone, but was going to use something a bit less lethal to make his tests. All he needed was to get someone who was Bonded drunk, while the one they were Bonded to had absolutely no alcohol. If it affected only one of them, then there was indeed a loophole in the Bond. If both of them were affected, then the Bond stood strong.

Now, of course, he couldn't just get _himself_ drunk. L was not a drinking man, if you couldn't tell. Besides, he'd be drunk, and he was the creator of the experiment. That wouldn't do at all. Sam was nineteen anyway; the drinking age in Japan was twenty, and he wasn't going to take her to Korea nearby (where the drinking age was nineteen) just for the sake of this experiment. Besides, if the Bond really connected them in a way that both of them would be drunk… well, he just didn't want to be drunk. He hated it. A slower reaction rate and an obvious lowering of deductive abilities, plus the possibility of acting more on impulse than by thought? …No. That didn't appeal to him in the least. Now, the only other two at the final stage was Light and I…. Of the two of us, he figured I was the best choice. …And there was a part of him that would love to see me drunk, but that was just Sam being Sam.

Well then. Now he was working the Kira case, B's case, and he was concocting a plan to make me drunk. His hands were getting full.

How fun.

* * *

"…I still can't believe that Misa died…," Sierra mumbled from the floor. She was lying flat on her back, one of her arms shielding her eyes.

"Yeah. Me neither," Matt replied as he rolled up a computer wire. It was almost time for the next move. "Who'd've thought that she'd be murdered during this case, of all things that could have happened to her."

"…Eh… one of us is gone…." She rewound what she just said in her head, then played it again. _Oops_. "…Why did I say '_us_'?"

Matt shrugged. "Maybe because you were her friend?"

"…Yeah… that makes sense…." She'd actually said it because she was one of the Kiras… but that was a good cover-up. Thanks, Matt.

Matt continued packing his things; Mello eventually came in with a chocolate bar in his mouth, waiting for Matt to finish. The blond waited irritably, leaning on the couch for a while before asking with a frown, "How long are you going to take, Matt?"

"I can take my time if I want to take my time."

"I don't have any _patience_."

"I, of all people, should know that, Mello," Matt pointed out, eyeing his best friend through the goggles.

Mello sighed irately in response. "Sierra, you've got your stuff together, right?"

"She does," Matt confirmed, then put his last piece of equipment in his bag. He smiled slightly, satisfied. "Alright, I'm good." The redhead then shouldered his bag and stood, looking back to Sierra. The chocoholic straightened up as well. "Hey, Sierra, c'mon. We've gotta go."

They didn't receive a response from the girl on the floor.

"Sierra, get up," Mello frowned.

"She's not dead, is she?" asked Matt, cocking an eyebrow. He looked to Mello.

"What're you looking at _me _for?" he snapped.

Matt shrugged, then set his bags on the floor as he spoke. "I don't know; I figured you'd know whether she was dead or not 'cause of the mind sync thing you've got going on."

"Of course she's not dead!"

"Right, 'cause you'd be devastated if she were," he replied, adjusting his goggles and smiling crookedly. He began making his way over to her. "But that's fine, since I'd be pretty wrecked too." He crouched beside Sierra's motionless form, then took her shoulder and shook it lightly. Mello, meanwhile, was making his way over as well. "Hey," said Matt. "Hey, Sierra. We've gotta go. You didn't pass out, did you?" No response. Matt sighed and lifted her arm from her face to find her eyes to be closed. "Well… she's sleeping."

"Has she been sleeping enough lately?" Mello asked dully.

"Nope," Matt replied. "As a Wammy kid surrounded by people like you and Near and L, I didn't think much of it."

The blond narrowed his eyes slightly at being placed in the same group as Near, but snapped out of it when he saw Matt was picking Sierra up. Then he just looked at Matt questioningly.

"Here," Matt said with a smirk, holding out Sierra to his friend.

Mello only looked at her like she was some unidentified object that he didn't know what to do with.

"Well, look, she needs to sleep, and we need to leave, so we've gotta carry her. I have more stuff than you. She's yours." He continued holding her out to him.

Mello glared at him.

"Look, I'll drop her if you don't take her," Matt informed Mello flatly, shoving her towards him.

Mello automatically held her so she wouldn't fall, then scowled at Matt. "What the hell?"

"Think of it this way," the video game lover replied nonchalantly as he went to pick his stuff back up again. "If we tell her she had to be carried by you, or – even better – if she wakes up in your arms, it'll give her a reason to get more sleep. She won't fall asleep in random places, and so she won't have to be carried by you. If she gets more sleep, she'll be healthier. Alright?"

Mello muttered something like an 'alright' in return, and Matt just gave a curt nod, smirking happily.

In any case, it was time for them to move out.

* * *

"What the hell, Mello?! Put me down! Why the hell are you carrying me; what the _hell_?!"

Matt was laughing. Of course.

Sierra, typically, had woken up the moment they reached their next hideout, and had freaked out once she realized what was going on. She whacked him over head as a way to get away. He, then, dropped her in alarm, and she fell with a little yip of surprise. "Don't drop me!"

"Don't hit me over the head!"

Matt was still laughing, but he managed to speak. "Well, Sierra… if you don't want to be carried by Mello… don't fall asleep randomly like that." He finished off the sentence with a final snicker.

"Meh!" Sierra snapped in response, crossing her arms.

"Well, for the record," Matt grinned, "that was sweet of him; I don't know why you hit him."

"_Matt…_," Mello uttered in a bit of a threatening tone.

Sierra wasted no time in getting up, stalking over to Matt, and slapping him square in the face. "You shut up!"

He rubbed his cheek, snickering again. "Hey, that kinda hurt, you know…."

* * *

I wanted to go to NPA headquarters to train whenever I could. Light hadn't been trained with a gun either, but he evidently had better aim considering whenever he gave his help I did much better. This only made me want to try harder. I sometimes hesitated when I peered out from behind a corner to shoot at fake criminals because my mind didn't process immediately which figures were innocent civilians and which weren't. I was getting better at that, though…. I kept mixing up formation 3 and formation 5, too, but I'd always mixed up those numbers. It was getting easier to hold up a gun, too. Perhaps I was actually getting stronger….

On the other hand, Light would do his job in a different branch of the NPA. This job got information on tons of criminals that needed to be killed, and so it was a very useful job. Obviously.

Of course, this couldn't be done until Monday came. It was only Sunday.

At night I would go to Light's to help him with trying to figure out the Sinful Murder cases. Since we were kicked off the case, we couldn't work on it with the task force, but that didn't mean we weren't going to try to solve it together on our own. Our projected excuse? To avenge Misa. Our real reason? We wanted to find the murderer before L, as a challenge, and we wanted to _kill him_. After all, Near still had wiretaps in Light's house, and if he wanted secrets, he'd get them – just not the secrets he wanted to hear. The only secret we'd tell was how we were working on the Sinful Murder cases behind the NPA's back.

Light was the hacker in our two-man team. Technically both of us knew how to hack, but he was usually the one in that position. Then, while he did that, I would look at the information we already had to try to make something of it. Of course, we'd have to be careful what we said because of the wiretaps, but we didn't talk much anyhow because any interaction there was, at any point, was through thought. So, Sunday night, instead of him having dinner over my house, I ate there after working for hours on those cases, both of us thinking on how to solve it as we ate.

I actually ended up hitting upon something while I was zoning out, funnily enough. My thoughts had wandered to the cases Sam and L were on a few months ago, when she went to places like Italy and Russia and America in order to catch the killer. They'd even gone to L's hometown. I began to ponder on whom that could have been. As I did this, I remembered Sam had said it was the same killer this time…. As I realized this, I took note of how if we knew the killer of the first cases, then we would know the killer of these cases and thus only need evidence to prove it.

I got to work on trying to figure out who the killer was right after dinner, piecing things together bit by bit. First I looked up Axbrige, L's hometown. There, I discovered the eleven murders dubbed the 'Axbridge Massacre' that took place there back in March. However, the status of the case was simply 'case closed.' There was no information on who the killer was.

Next was Russia. I remembered Sam mentioning Moscow, and tried there first. There was only one murder there, and it had the same result. 'Case closed.'

Italy, now. I remembered even clearer that she'd gone here, because it was here that Sam told me she'd first kissed L. I didn't know if there were places gone to in between Russia and Italy, but for now I'd just work with what I had and see where it got me. I looked up any major murders there, but there was only two truly horrible men, and both of them had been judged recently. I didn't give up, though. Sam had said she'd nearly been burned alive…. So, I tried searching up fires in Italy within the right time period; late March, that is. There was one major fire in the catacombs of Rome, which vaguely confused me knowing stone didn't normally catch fire. This fire was the 'Catacomb Conflagration,' and it was this I latched onto as I looked through Rome's news to find what we needed.

Alright, here we are. A man named Francesco Lombardi was apparently the hero, who had saved an unnamed girl from being killed. When asked who the kidnapper was, he only said that he didn't know _who _he was, but that he had short black hair and the creepiest eyes….

Now, I was getting better at remembering names and faces. (This was a given, as being a constant user of the Death Note required this skill.) I also knew a lot of criminals; many dead, some living. I ran through the living criminals I remembered that fit that description. There was one, a black-haired man of the Italian mafia, that fit the description. However, he was last seen in Italy, and these murders most certainly did not seem like his work.

Think, Natalie. Who do you think of when you think of a guy with short black hair and creepy eyes? Who comes to mind? Think; think…. Mikami popped into my head, but this only made me want to laugh. Then….

BB?

We'd seen him on the surveillance camera footage of Mello's escape; he was alive despite the fact his name had been written in the Death Note. Could it have been him? Light began checking the dates of all the murders for these cases…. May thirty-first, June fourth, June ninth, and June thirteenth. 31, 4, 9, and 13. It matched B's pattern in the LABB Murder Cases. The murderer who had killed Misa… was Beyond Birthday. A man who apparently wasn't affected by the Death Note.

Well… now there was only one thing left to do: crack this case. We knew it was B, now we just had to prove it.

It wasn't too long after that I called it a night and headed back to my own home through the dark. The night air was not quite hot and not quite cool; a perfect temperature. I walked happily among a thin crowd of pedestrians; there weren't many people out at this time. I reached home to find Anna was just preparing to go to bed. Sam was on the couch, leaning against the arm with a sketchpad in her lap. She greeted me with a small wave. Anna caught sight of me coming through the door as she was about to head up the stairs. She stopped and turned to me, glaring at me indignantly. I closed the door softly behind me.

"What _took _you so long?" Anna asked me, sounding rather annoyed.

"Sorry," I apologized. "We had a lot to do."

"What exactly were you _doing_?" Sam inquired, cocking an eyebrow.

I shrugged. "There are a lot of Misa's things that still need to be sorted out, Sam. A will doesn't necessarily clarify every single thing a person owned."

"…Oh."

"Still, did you have to take so long?" Anna huffed, crossing her arms.

"Again, Anna, I'm sorry," I said, "but there's a lot of things we have to take care of."

"Will you be going back again tomorrow, then?" asked Sam.

I nodded.

Anna breathed one last irritated sigh. "Whatever," she muttered. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," I smiled, and Sam waved at her before she made her way up to bed.

The next day I trained at NPA headquarters. Matsuda actually visited me once, and we chatted for awhile before both of us returned to our respective jobs. Eventually, I returned home, and soon after making sure there was enough food for Sam and Anna to have dinner, I left for Light's again to work on the case. Light hacked into the NPA's system once again, gaining access to the information on the Sinful Murder cases. After this was accomplished, Light tried to work out more patterns while I tried to decipher the markings on Misa. Sometimes a word here or there would be hard to make out, and it didn't really help that I'd never seen the words before in my life. Once I _could_ make a word out, however, I would try to enter it into a translator.

Eventually all the words were deciphered and all that was left was to figure out the meaning behind it. 'Pandora's box'…. That was the point, of course, but what could a killer be trying to say with 'Pandora's box'? He was, for one, implying that Misa, as Kira, had unleashed bad upon the world. But of course there was the suspicion of how he could know she was Kira… but that was probably just the hidden rumors of being taken in by L all that time ago; that sort of thing. Beyond was a Wammy kid too. Nonetheless, we knew to raise our guard, for if he wanted, he could strike against us as well.

We began noticing a pattern with the people, too. There was always some burden to society that the killer would point out. Sickness; obsession; Pandora's box; and the most recent one, hatred. It was this that must have been the pattern of who to kill, just as the alliteration of B or Q in the victim's names was such in the LABB Murder Cases. But what was the pattern supposed to be? There didn't seem to be any definite next thing….

We worked on this for awhile, looking back on all the murders to see what we could make of it. As we worked, it grew late, and my brain slowly began to die. I could only keep alert for so long, you know. I still tried to work my way through it and piece together the case, though. Before us, upon a table, were pictures from the case – of the victims, of the crime scenes, of the notes – as well as any connections we'd made. The interlocking patterns. The translations. That sort of thing.

My attention began to wander at some point, however, as I grew more tired. I would zone out when I was trying to think, then snap back to attention, shaking my head and mentally scolding myself. It kept happening, though, and I eventually reached the point where I couldn't even get my brain to work.

Half of me thought it was about time for me to retire, and of course this was Light being rational. This same half of me knew that it was just silly to have to go home this late, and this tired. It would be more convenient if I crashed here. I made a mental note not to stay so late next time so I wouldn't get so tired and therefore wouldn't have to stay here. I didn't want to be any sort of burden, even though I knew for a fact he didn't really care all that much.

Considering the fact I was practically falling asleep in my chair, I accepted it was time for bed. I was led to a place to rest by Light, and he left me to sleep as he continued to work. I fell into slumber almost instantly.

* * *

_**Fun Fact**_**: Real-life Sierra does sometimes fall asleep in random places when she's tired enough...**

**Review? For sleep? :D**


	16. Chapter 16

_**Guest**_**: **Finally indeed. Ahh, and now that she's figured it out, will they catch him?  
Yeahh, B's gonna have to fall at some point... But you're right. At least he has Sophia this time around.  
What _is _Near doing now? I forget. Ahh, but he's coming up again soon~

_**Amy**_**: **Ohh, yes. Natalie drunk should be 'interesting' indeed, eh? Sorry, but no...L won't be getting drunk. xD Sorry. But there are more reasons behind that, soo...

**(Also) **_**Guest**_**: **Oooh, better run BB; ya got more after ya now~~ Haha, it's fine to pick your sides, Light's got a lot against him in reality already anyway~ Though he also has a majority of the population on his side in his world, so...  
But...you really think so? ;v; Thank youuu.

_**Mrs. Lawliet**_**: **Yay sleep? .u. Ahh, yes, B has something to worry about, doesn't he?~

**Whelp, enjoy this chapter. Really. It's actually quite long.**

**...Sorry.**

* * *

When my mind first came out of its dreams and into the waking world, golden light was pouring into the room from a small portion of a partially exposed window. It had been cooler than normal lately (for June, anyway), so typically the mornings were cool as in mid-spring or fall. I found myself wrapped in warmth, however, which I thought to be pretty cozy. I opened my eyes.

…To see Light there. To be honest, I knew he was there because of the whole Bond thing, but it still scared me a little. Both of us were awake, of course, since we usually woke up at the same time. His eyes were open just as mine were. And, to my great discomfort (which was actually rather comfy), I found I was curled up into his embrace.

Suddenly the cool morning air wasn't cool enough.

Oh well.

I looked back upon the recollections of last night, belonging in Light's memory. After I'd gone to bed; you know. No new developments had been made, and we were still pretty much in the same place as before. And….

"You cuddled into me in your sleep," he said. A vague sense of amusement laced his tone, and of course I knew he was smiling ever so slightly because of it.

I closed my eyes again, ignoring the heat in my cheeks. "I know," I muttered in response. Damn my subconscious, naturally snuggling things in its sleep.

"You're very warm," he added.

I frowned slightly, fighting the heat rolling over me again. "I know," I repeated. Saying that would only make me warmer, you know. He was doing this on purpose, wasn't he? Why am I asking? Of course I know the answer.

He pulled me just a little bit closer. Then, "Your heart is beating very fast."

I squeezed my eyes shut tighter. "I know." That jerkface. Make me die on purpose, why don'tchya? Meh. I gave a little sigh and opened my eyes again.

Light was still smiling that little smile of amusement. He moved his head slightly closer to mine, lowering his voice a bit. "I know you know." And with that, he gave me a kiss before turning himself so he could sit up and leave the bed to begin his day. I just lay there for a few more seconds, then sat up and swung my feet over the edge of the bed, keeping my expression blank.

We decided that I would go back to my house to have breakfast. So, I got to my feet and subconsciously began fixing my too-short-to-be-that-messy-anyway hair. I soon walked out the door and onto the sidewalk, where I began making my way back home. Anna and Sam would wonder where I'd been all night….

Oh God. Sam.

…Well, I supposed I'd just have to take what came at me from her. She had been practically _living _with L, so it didn't really matter anyway. If I reminded her of that, she'd be quiet.

As I walked back to my own home, I kept my eyes fixed on the ground. The whole dying-on-the-inside thing kept coming back in waves. Damn it…. At least I had that inner anti-blush mechanism, so Sam wouldn't be likely to notice. Yeah, I could rely on that.

So I kept walking, eyes never leaving the sidewalk, as I eventually reached my driveway and began making my way up to my house. I opened the door and closed it behind me carefully, unconsciously keeping my eyes lowered.

And Sam was waiting for me.

She was sitting on the couch with her sketchpad again, only this time she stood up the moment she saw me, setting her sketchpad back on the couch and crossing her arms over her chest. She was smiling.

I looked up at her to face her, my gaze finally leaving the ground.

"So, where were _you_ all last night?" she asked, amusement plain in both her expression and her inflection.

I closed my eyes, hanging up the jacket I hadn't had to use on the rack. "If you wish to know, I ended up staying too late and stayed at Light's house instead."

Her smile widened ever so slightly. "Did you sleep together?" She thought over her words. "Well, not like _that_, but… you know what I mean."

I gazed at her, unable to respond but keeping my expression utterly blank. I was coming to realize that when I was dying enough, I refrained from showing any outward emotion. Huh.

"No comment means it's true!" she sang. Sam stopped, and squinted at me. She got closer. "…Are you blushing?"

"Am I?" I asked dully.

"Yeah… I think you are!" She squealed in delight.

"Well, you _were _the one who was practically _living _with L, so I wouldn't be talking," I said flatly.

She frowned. "You shut up," she told me, and dropped the subject. I smiled ever so slightly; I'd been right about that. "Anyway," she said, "we were wondering – I mean L and I – if we could all have a little dinner together tonight. If L can come over, and Light can come over. What do you think?"

I eyed her with suspicion. Why exactly was she asking permission for this? It usually just happened, but to actually ask would mean that she'd need absolute certainty about something happening tonight. But what? What were they planning? We ran through every move we'd made on this case so far, making sure there were no mistakes in any plan. I eventually left that to Light as I tried to figure whether I should give a yes or a no…. No, it would be best to act as though nothing was different. All of this happened within a few seconds, and so it wasn't noticed.

"Of course, that sounds good," I said, quirking my eyebrow slightly. "At least, I don't see a problem with it. Why?"

"Oh, we just wanted a little night together, that's all. Me, you, Light, L, and Anna for dinner. We thought it was a nice idea for it to happen on something other than a Sunday. Make things a little different."

"Well, I guess that makes sense," I replied, putting my hand to my chin thoughtfully. "After all, variety is a good thing to have in life, isn't it?" I paused, contemplating. "…Now I just need to figure out what's for dinner…."

After I had something to eat as breakfast – this morning I had cereal; a very chocolaty and delicious kind, too – I headed to NPA headquarters as normal. I trained for awhile, then went out with Matsuda on his lunch break and just talked as we ate; it was nice. He informed me the case wasn't really going anywhere, and openly expressed his opinion that Light and I should be still on the case. I agreed with him, of course, but also reminded him that there was good reason to be off of the case. "Besides," I told him, "now I can actually get some training done!"

After this, I trained some more before eventually heading out to the store to buy what I needed for dinner. This didn't take long, and soon I was walking back to my own home, food in tow. Sam and L were already there when I got home, L apologizing for any inconvenience. I only smiled and told him it was fine, though I put my guard up for any moves they might make while they were here. There could always be a special reason L was here early, after all…. And don't call us paranoid. We're not. We have good reason to put our guards up against people like L, because they _are _geniuses, and they _are _out to get us.

Well, that sounded paranoid.

I began preparing the food in silence, and in time Light and Anna got there. They talked while I cooked, and eventually it was time to eat. Some pork and rice; everyone had their own respective drinks. Sam had some orange juice; Anna some grape juice; and Light and I had water. L, of course, wasn't eating what we were, instead eating some brownies with some sugary coffee. Honestly. I don't know how he survived.

After dinner, we relaxed for awhile. Anna managed to convince all of us to partake in a game of Uno, which was nice. After a few rounds of that we stopped and just talked for awhile. And, of course….

"I'm hungry," Anna remarked.

"Me too," Sam came in.

"What would you like to eat?" I asked them, immediately getting to my feet.

"Ah," said L, getting to his feet as well. "I brought a snack."

"Did you?" I asked.

"Yes. Chips. I knew all of you liked them. Samantha, however, would like something else."

"I'll just have a donut," said Sam, and I nodded as L and I headed to the kitchen.

"Thanks for bringing your own snacks; it was very thoughtful of you," I commented to L.

"Yes," he agreed. "I also brought something to drink. Would you like some?"

"What is it?" I asked, glancing at him as I set a donut on a paper plate.

"It's sparkling grape juice from Italy; a foreign beverage I thought you might like," he answered, pulling out two bottles.

"Huh. I think I might try some." I looked to those who were still in the living room and called to them, "Does anyone want something to drink?"

"Grape juice please!" Anna responded.

"Uh, milk for me," said Sam.

Light didn't need to respond.

I grabbed three glasses and Sam's donut before following L into the living room; he held the chips and the sparkling grape juice. "Do you want me to pour mine and Anna's drinks?" I asked L, but he shook his head.

"No. I'll get that."

"Alright," I shrugged, then handed Sam her donut, set two of the glasses on the table, and went back to the kitchen to pour milk for Sam.

Sam was smiling happily as I walked away. She was getting pretty excited. Ha, me drunk, what a thought. See, the two bottles, though both said grape juice on their labels, were in actuality two different drinks. One was sparkling grape juice, sure, but the other was actually wine. To be specific, it was Arbor Mist Blackberry Merlot, a carbonated wine that tasted less like wine and more like… well, sparkling grape juice. It was perfect.

L began pouring the sparkling grape juice into Anna's glass. "Is that _fizzy_?" she asked in awe.

"Yes, this is carbonated."

"Awesome!"

"Yes." And L began pouring my drink.

Light noticed the change in bottle out of the corner of his eye, but of course couldn't be absolutely sure because he hadn't been looking.

I came back with Sam's milk just as Anna opened the potato chips. I set the milk in front of Sam on the coffee table, and sat down in my place between Sam and Light on the couch. L soon went back to his chair, and Anna continued sitting on the pillow she had on the floor.

"I wonder how Sierra's doing," Anna commented, popping a chip into her mouth.

I took a sip of L's drink before speaking. Hm. It was actually pretty good; it'd been years since I had sparkling grape juice. "Well, the last time I talked to her, she was alright," I said to Anna.

"I wonder how she and _Mello_ are doing, then," remarked Sam, then took a bite of her donut. It was a Boston cream, one of both of our favorites.

"Oh, I bet they're doing _great_," Anna said with a giggle.

I finished a sip, then gave a little _heh_. "Jeez, guys, make sure we can include the guys in this conversation. Don't go all girly on them."

"Technically, we're both mind synced to girls," L pointed out.

"So… does that mean you guys can girl out too?" Anna asked.

L and Light glanced at one another. "I do suppose we _could_…," said L thoughtfully.

"…It'd just be a little awkward for us, and you, don't you think?" added Light, who then chuckled.

"That's actually a really creepy thought," said Sam. "…Really, _really _creepy."

Anna giggled. "I think it's funny."

"Then try imagining Near acting girly," she responded, earning a glare and a whack on the leg. Sam only laughed. "Exactly."

"You know, I've never seen Near 'girl out' before, actually," I said thoughtfully. "In comics, I mean. I've seen Light and L and Mello, but not Near. Huh."

"Well, good," Anna huffed.

"So, you're taking over that case we were working on, L?" asked Light.

Sam snickered. "Yeah, Light, change that subject."

Light only smiled at her. "Well, I might as well try to keep up a conversation L and I can partake in when I know the girls will eventually take over."

She laughed. "I guess that's true."

"In answer to you, Light," said L, "yes, I am now working on those murder cases."

"Do you already know who the murderer is?" asked Anna.

"Yes," responded L, "I do."

My niece gave a little nod. "Yep, 'cause your epic, L."

"I suppose I am."

"And I'm going to hope you and Near are doing well on the Kira case," Light added.

"Oh, yes," agreed L. "Although, I'm currently trying to get rid of the murderer of the Sinful Murder cases. I can do both cases at once, but I have reason to believe the Sinful Murder cases will naturally be taken care of first. Near, however, is giving the Kira case his all."

"L, you're doing it again; you should be putting your all into the Kira case too!" Light frowned. "That case has been going on far too long; it needs to be put to an end."

L eyed him. "I completely agree."

"Speaking of Near… how are you and him doing, Anna?" I asked with a grin. This only earned a hard glare, and I laughed.

"Well, I kinda wonder about Mello and Sierra…," Anna muttered as I took a long sip of my grape juice.

"How 'bout you, Sam?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "How're you and L doing, hmm?" My drink was nearly gone, and so L refilled it for me. I didn't really notice. I mean, I did, but I thought nothing of it and soon forgot about the matter.

I only received a _tch_ from Sam.

"It seems our conversation has gone to the girls again," Light sighed, smiling in vague amusement.

"I suppose so," L responded.

Sam took a swig of her milk to wash down the last of her donut as Anna began to speak. "How did L taste again?" she asked. Her voice was so innocent.

Poor Sam choked on her milk.

"…Yes, I do believe it's gone to the girls," L agreed, and Light chuckled.

"You're not supposed to ask that _right in front of him_, Anna!" Sam cried after she was done choking.

The thirteen-year-old shrugged. "It wouldn't matter. You're at the final stage anyway, right?"

"…Meh…."

"So what's he taste like?"

"Sweet; I told you," Sam frowned. "Sweet."

"Then what does_ Sam_ taste like?" I came in, raising my eyebrows at L.

"Vanilla," he responded easily, as if it were nothing.

"Oh God, Mello would _hate _you!" Anna exclaimed to Sam.

"He doesn't like vanilla?" she asked blankly.

"Nope."

"What the hell?! I'll kill him; vanilla is awesome!"

I laughed; or rather, I giggled in amusement. "No, you need to keep him alive for Sierra," I pointed out, still grinning like an idiot.

"Eh, I guess…," Sam mumbled in response. "Wait, Anna… what does Near taste like?"

"Peaches!" she responded immediately, and Sam and I just sort of looked at her. L and Light weren't really partaking in the conversation, at this point. Poor them. And they were the guests. Anna blinked. "Actually, I said that impulsively. He tastes like watermelon."

"Watermelon?" Sam repeated.

"Uh-huh! Watermelon!"

I giggled. "Isn't watermelon one of your favorite foods, too?"

"…Yeah, so?"

I only giggled some more, though I decided to try to stop myself by taking a sip of my grape juice. I wouldn't want to be whacked by an Anna.

"Well, Mello obviously tastes like chocolate; that's a given," Sam shrugged. "So, L's… sweet… Near is watermelon, and Mello is chocolate." She furrowed her brow. "Hey…. Natalie, you never told us what _Light _tasted like!"

This automatically stopped my giggling. "Well that's no fair," I sniffed. "Every time someone was first asked that question, the person they were talking about wasn't there."

"So?" asked Anna.

"You're at the final stage anyway," Sam grinned.

I pursed my lips, glaring at Sam. "Fine then," I said and looked to the ceiling. "He tastes like… apple cinnamon."

"How ironic that you taste like apples, Light," L commented dully.

"L, it isn't your place to speak here…," Light frowned.

"Oh, it isn't?"

"What the hell?" Sam asked. "Apple cinnamon? That sounds amazing; what the hell?"

"It is amazing," I answered simply and took another sip of grape juice. It can be said that I looked back on that sentence and felt like an idiot.

Sam giggled, looking at me with teasing eyes.

"So, wait, do you think of him when you have apple crisp, then?" asked Anna.

I frowned. "No. Apple crisp is sweet… it's not necessarily a sweet flavor…. Like, L is sweet, right, Sam?"

"Um, yeah," Sam replied.

"And then Near would be refreshing, 'cause he's watermelon, right?"

"Uh-huh; I guess…," Anna answered with slight confusion.

"Well, Light isn't sweet. I guess you can say he's refreshing because of the apple taste, but then there's also the cinnamon, which makes the taste spicy."

"Oh," Sam remarked, raising her eyebrows, "so Light's spicy?"

"I guess so; not really. It's a mix of refreshing _and _spicy…."

"Ohoho…," she smirked. "And do you like this taste?"

"Yeah; do you like the taste of L?"

She blinked twice, staring at me. "…Er… uh… yeah…."

"See? There we are." I giggled, then continued giggling for no apparent reason. I don't know; life just seemed amusing to me. I remember that at this point a part of me – Light, that is – kept drilling into my head not to give anything serious away. I'm glad he did, too. I felt rather at ease, you know, and was beginning to see no problem in admitting that, hey, I worked as Kira. It was like it wasn't that big a deal. Ha.

"But _still_!" Sam cried, then decidedly squealed.

"What?" I asked blankly.

"I'm just… just fangirling over you and Light!"

I pursed my lips. "Are you? Huh."

"Oh right, I always forget to say this!" Anna yelped, then looked at Sam. "All of the SPK says hi, Sam."

Sam stopped squealing. "Even Gevanni?"

"Yep!"

"Yay!" she squeaked. "Gevanni is so epic."

"Well, I can certainly say he's capable," Light remarked. "He knows what he's doing and he does it right."

"Sierra doesn't like Halle very much…," said Anna. "I think I know why, though."

Sam snickered. "'Cause she seems close to Mello?"

"That's what I think," Anna confirmed with a nod.

"Well it'd only make sense," I sniggered.

"You know, I still sometimes look back and think on how unrealistic this all is," Sam remarked as I took a swig of my grape juice.

"You mean the whole 'going to another world' thing?" Anna inquired, tilting her head. It was an odd topic to speak of to her after all these years of living here.

"Well, I must say that _was _very unlikely to happen…," L conceded. "I suppose it was good you came here, though. Many of us would be dead had you not appeared."

"Yeah…."

"But then, there's also the whole pairing thing going on," Sam added. "That wasn't likely either. And don't glare at me like that, Anna, because I'm talking about all of us. Who would've thought the seemingly incapable-of-love Light would be with Natalie, the asexual Near with Anna, the hotheaded Mello with Sierra, and the stoic L with myself?"

I shrugged. "I say it's all _weird_, but hey, look, it still happened."

"Yeah, but sometimes it makes even less sense," Anna remarked. "Like, I'm thirteen, and Near is eighteen. Isn't that a little weird?"

"Well, L's _thirty _while I'm nineteen," Sam pointed out.

"Oh yeah…."

"Jeez, L," I scoffed, "that sounds slightly pedophilic."

Sam sputtered with laughter as I laughed with her. Anna was confused.

"L, I don't want your candy, old man!" I cried, still laughing.

L gazed at me blankly. "Thirty is hardly old, and I am not a pedophile."

"_Suuure_ you're not." I giggled some more. My glass was nearly empty again. L refilled it. This time I didn't notice at all. My giggles bubbled into laughter.

"What?" Anna asked.

"I-I just remembered the creepy child… Sam and L… France…."

Sam sighed. "Apparently Sam and I are going to get married and move to France, then have a perceivably creepy child who can see right through you," L explained to Anna.

"I think your son is adorable, are you kidding, L?" I asked, stifling my laughter. I took a drink of my grape juice. "I mean, how could you call your own son creepy?" I gasped. "Maybe you should name him Harold!"

"One," Sam said, furrowing her brow, "what if the creepy child was a girl? Two, _why_ would I name my child Harold?"

"Well then you should name her Tiffany. And you'd name him Harold because Harold is a beautiful name, and I want to be your child's fairy godmother." I scoffed. "Wait, I meant godmother. I'm not a fairy. Bippity boppity boo? No." I laughed again.

"I doubt we'd be having a child anytime soon anyhow," L responded dully.

"Or ever," Sam added, shifting uncomfortably.

"Aunt Natalie, are you okay?" Anna asked, stifling her own laughs.

"Are you kidding?" I asked. "I'm never okay! And besides, I guess my mind was just on Cinderella." I continued trying not to laugh.

Something finally changed in Light's expression that Sam could notice. His eyes flickered, and he turned to me with a confused look. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Even _Light _doesn't know!" Anna yelped. "Wow, Aunt Natalie, you're random tonight, huh?"

"Nah, I'm just actin' funny and I dunno why," I replied happily.

Sam and L, meanwhile, glanced at one another but once. They knew this wasn't normal. Those at the last stage of the Bond always knew what was going through the other's head. But they supposed that the alcohol-induced fog in my mind somehow confused the Bond itself, weakening it. Light's consciousness couldn't fully permeate this fog; it was stuck outside of it.

What an interesting development.

"Anyway, I'm pretty sure I was jus' talkin' 'bout the Disney movie Cinderella, right?" I replied, looking at Light blankly.

"Yup!" Anna confirmed.

"Something's wrong," Light told me. "I can't—"

"Light," Sam interrupted. "Chill."

Light looked at her with a slight frown. "I honestly thought I was relatively calm…."

My best friend just shrugged in response.

"Aw!" I cried, leaning into Light and hugging his arm. "Don' be worried 'bout anything, okay?"

Sam snickered. "Yeah, Light. You're too stressed."

Anna giggled. "Aunt Natalie, you're funny."

"Thank you!" I responded. "I'm here all week, plus the rest of my life. …Unless I move… then I won' be here anymore."

Anna giggled again. "Oh, Aunt Natalie, I love you."

"Aw, I love you too, Anna!" I told her. "And o' course I love Sierra, too, and you Sam, as my best friend. And good lord, how I love Light." I gave a little sigh as I leaned my head on his arm. He could only give mental acceptance and an awkward little pet on the head as Sam struggled to restrain her laughter.

Anna didn't restrain herself at all.

"In any case," said L, breaking through the laughs and the silence between, "what have you been doing now that you're off the case?" He tilted his head. "Of course, you don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"No, it's fine," said Light, turning his head to look at L. "I have gone to work in my own branch of the NPA, in the Intelligence and Information Bureau. Then, in my spare time, I sort out Misa's things and work to decide where they must end up."

"Yes, that makes sense," L agreed. "Misa's will didn't specify everything, did it?"

"No, it did not."

Anna gazed at the ground. "It really is too bad she was killed…. I feel so bad that she's dead…. I still can't believe it happened, just like that."

"I suppose a lot of deaths are like that," L said, his voice low. "One moment someone is alive and well, and the next they're gone forever. You almost never see it coming."

"Yeah…," Anna agreed softly.

"My regret is that I can't do anything to catch the man who killed her," said Light, his voice tight.

"Yes," L concurred, "I can understand how that might be frustrating."

Sam shifted uncomfortably, honestly not feeling all that bad for Misa.

There was silence for awhile, but at some point Anna looked at me and asked, "Aunt Natalie, are you falling asleep?"

I blinked at her, taking a moment to process what she'd asked. "I'm a li'l tired, I guess," I responded in a mumbling tone.

"Perhaps you should get some rest," said L. "It is, after all, getting late. It will soon be time for Light and I to go anyhow."

"Hm…," I hummed, contemplating his proposal with closed eyes. I opened them again. "Okay."

"I'll help her upstairs," said Light, getting up and pulling me up carefully as he did so.

"Why, thank you, sir," I slurred slightly, and giggled.

He began leading me away towards the stairwell as Sam, L, and Anna started up on their own conversation once again. ("So, wait, Anna, does Near ever let you play with his toys?")

The moment I was put before the obstacle known as stairs, I proceeded to trip up them, being barely caught by my escort. With a sigh, Light pulled my arm over his shoulders in order to help stabilize my balance, and we made our way slowly up the stairs. After the top of the stairs were reached it was much easier going, and eventually we were in my room. At this point we were surely out of earshot of the others, and the 'don't give anything away' thing pounding in my head disappeared.

I soon stopped, however, halfway through my room to my resting place. There was a pause, and Light silently waited for me to keep moving again. "…Light?" I asked, my voice soft.

"Yes?" he responded. It felt odd; we hadn't had a real conversation since the final stage had been reached.

My mind was slow, my thoughts thick yet light, yet I forced my conscious to work its way through the fog to speak meaningfully. "Light… we're gonna die."

He turned me around to face him, looking down at me. "What are you talking about?"

"You and I, what we're doing, we… we're gonna die. You're losing yourself again and… and I think I'm gonna lose myself, too. And then… then we…. We're…."

"Don't talk like that." He spoke with both firmness and gentleness.

"But…." My breathing hitched. "We _will _die, Light. If it's like Misa… or on death row… or killed by someone like Mello…. We can't just go on like this forever. We'll die, and both of us will end up in Mu, nothingness, an' I don't want either of our souls stuck like that…. Plus… with L an' Near an' Mello in the world… it's inevitable that one of them should catch us. We're only human, Light, and we're gonna make mistakes…. And even if, at some point, they're not threats anymore… then what?"

His gaze seemed to intensify. Well, it wasn't so much that it was intense, but that unidentified fire in his eyes seemed suddenly more prominent than it was before. "Once our obstacles are gone… the path to the New World is open to us. The world is so close to salvation. We'll rule, and this world will finally be good. At peace."

My eyes wandered to the ground. I grew slightly frustrated in being unable to express what I was trying to say. 'We're damned; we've sold our souls and are doomed to fall from grace eventually.' That's what I meant. Words came slowly. "Light, I… I sometimes get scared, you know." I gripped my stomach lightly. "And it's weird, but… only now I feel a little anxiety just knowing we'll end up nowhere in the end, and…. But then there's the whole thing with the Death Note where your mind gets corrupted, and… well… I don't think that's a good thing…."

"Of course it's not a good thing," Light agreed. "But it's a sacrifice that must be made in the long run if we're to make the New World. Neither of us want to end up in Mu, in nothingness, that's true; but we made a commitment to our cause to give even our souls away. We're giving our minds, too, now, if we have to. We'll do whatever it takes."

"I do want the New World," I mumbled. "I know that. It's just… we can't end up like you almost did, okay?" I began tearing up. "We can still care about people like Sachiko and Sayu and Anna and Sierra and Sam, right? We'll protect them, no matter what, right?"

He gripped my shoulders. "We'll do what we can to protect them; you know that. One of the reasons I wanted to create this world was _for _them, wasn't it?"

I didn't look up at him, not bothering to wipe any stray tears away. Once I figured out what had happened, I blamed the alcohol. "Light… you know…. I really do love you."

I still didn't look up, though his eyes were ever on me, searching, searching. Then he pulled me into his warm embrace, his voice softening when he spoke. "I know," he said, and we just stood there for a minute, silence blanketing the two of us. "You'll be fine," he assured me eventually, easing away the quiet. "We won't be dying anytime soon and what we're doing _is _right and it _is _for the better. Believe that, and you'll be fine. Sacrifices must be made in everything we do, because, after all, we are only human." He paused, closing his eyes a moment. "Now you should probably get to bed; you need to rest."

"Okay." My voice was still soft and small. He led me to my bed and lay me down; I closed my eyes almost immediately after lying down. It was after this that he left the room, closing the door with a soft _click _behind him.

After closing the door behind him and walking down the short stretch of hallway, Light headed down the stairs, and he was frowning when he reentered the living room. He looked right to L. Said detective, Sam, and Anna stopped talking upon his entrance. Light made his way toward them and, once he felt he was close enough, he looked straight into L's eyes and asked in a hard voice, "What did you do to her?"

"Well," said L, "I gave her some wine, that's all."

"Wait, what?" Anna asked blankly.

"Wine?" Light questioned. "Why?"

"To be specific, it's Arbor Mist Blackberry Merlot," L added. "I used it as a test to see if there was a loophole in the Bond."

"Loophole or no loophole, you shouldn't _test _on people like that!" Light snapped. "If you really wanted to figure that out so badly, then you should have _asked_!"

"So sorry," L responded dully.

"_Sorry?_"

"No harm was done, and you know that!" Sam pointed out with an irritated look in her eye.

"'No harm done' doesn't mean that he should have done it!"

"Again, Light. Chill! Look, I got upset when L let those children _you killed _die, but something good came out of it in the end. In this, at least it was a _safe _thing, and now both of us know more because of it!"

Light relaxed his expression, though his eyes were still hard, and straightened up. "I suppose you're right. I still believe you shouldn't have done that, L, but I'm not going to fight about it. In any case… I suppose it's about time for me to go."

"Yes, Roger will come for me soon as well," said L.

Light nodded. "Goodbye and goodnight, all of you," he said, bidding them farewell. Anna gave him a last hug goodbye before he left out our front door.

* * *

**So...there's that. .-. You enjoy?**

_**Fun Fact**_**: ****Actually, Real-Life Sam made tons and tons of suggestions for that drunk scene. ...While she was hyper. So a lot of what she asked I simply couldn't put in. xD Among them were "Have Natalie name her left foot Harold," "Have her wipe L's hair with a napkin," and "Have her have a 'moment' with a lamp." She came up with a lot more, too, but...nope. xD Sorry, Sam.  
****I _was _able a few of her suggestions in there, though. Like calling L a pedophile and saying 'I don't want your candy, old man!'**

**Yep.**

**Review? For a drunk Natalie...!**


	17. Chapter 17

_**Mrs. Lawliet**_**: **Ahh, sorry that Matt's story will be awhile but...yep, apparently so. A happy drunk; hah.

_**Amy**_**: **Ahhh? I got you to laugh aloud? I feel accomplished! Ha, it would have been amusing if that had happened, huh? It almost seemed like it, didn't it? Haa...

**Blarg. I'm too busy. I barely edited this chapter. Sorry... ^^; Sacred myself, too. Almost didn't update, hahahaaa...**

**Well, enjoy the chapter~**

* * *

"Wow, I can't believe we found this place," Matt remarked as he unpacked his bags. They had recently made their next move, and were now in a nice little home… underground. No one seemed to live there, as there was dust upon every piece of furniture as well as on the floor. Although, there wasn't much furniture anyway. One bed, a small television, and a nightstand with a lamp and clock, plus the necessities for the kitchen and bathroom. That was all.

"I wonder who used to live here," Sierra commented, looking around at their current home.

Mello shrugged, of course holding a chocolate bar in his hand as he leaned against the wall. "Considering the way it's hidden and only has the more necessary of things, it probably used to be a hideout for a fugitive."

Matt tilted his head as he pulled out some wires. "The guy's probably dead by now, with Kira around."

"That would explain why it's so dusty…," said Sierra, scuffing some of the dust on the ground with her foot. Then she grinned. "Well, I guess this place fits us then, right? We're fugitives, too." And she giggled out of faint amusement.

"Yeah, I guess that's right," Matt remarked as he began to hook everything up.

"Can I help at all?"

"Sure," Matt replied, and began indicating what she was supposed to plug into what as he himself hooked up a different piece of equipment.

Mello continued leaning against the wall, snapping off pieces of chocolate with his mouth as he watched them. He wasn't really watching them, though, he was more thinking to himself about things. They had a plan, they just needed to find the right time, the right place, and the right equipment. They'd ditched the car awhile ago; they needed a new one. A motorcycle would be nice, too. They needed rope, cloth, duct tape, and a chair. They needed a secure area with a good security system and good locks. Yeah, they needed a few things before they acted.

His gaze shifted to the entrance to this place; there was an alcove of sorts, where a pole stood, shooting upwards into a hole in the ceiling. This pole, to slide down it, was the way in, though there was an old wooden ladder as well. This seemed unstable, however, and so they hadn't used it. Well, Matt had started to, but then the rung he was on broke and he used the pole instead. Sierra had laughed.

As Mello continued thinking on the things they needed, Sierra's and Matt's voices faded into white noise. As he pondered, eventually his thoughts turned to a different matter…. When he'd gone to Sierra's subconscious. When he'd remembered things. It was only bits and pieces at first, but he was beginning to put everything together. He could remember what his parents looked like now. He remembered, one memory at a time, the hazy events of the first two years of his life. It was odd, sometimes he thought that maybe it was better to forget. But then, a majority of the time, he just got frustrated for not being able to remember because, after all, those memories were a part of who he was, whether he enjoyed those memories or not.

He was snapped out of his reverie as a head popped down through the hole in the ceiling at the entrance. The head had black hair and belonged to a man that Mello recognized…. It was the guy who had broken him out of jail, pretending to be L.

The man eyed him, recognition immediately in his eyes. He grinned at Mello, and a hand slipped into the hole in the ceiling as a finger was held to his lips. _Don't tell_. The head and hand disappeared back into the hole.

Mello looked to Matt and Sierra. They were still talking and hooking things up. He felt for his gun; he still had it on him. Good. He knew how that guy's mind worked; he was just like a lot of other criminals. He had broken him out of jail, and now Mello owed him. For now he'd play it safe and not tell the other two. First he'd see what the guy wanted, and how he knew they were there in the first place. Giving Matt and Sierra one last glance, Mello made his way over to the exit and climbed up the pole to pull himself up through the hole and to the exit where the man had gone.

He was waiting for him when he got up. He looked at Mello, and gave a fierce grin. Mello gazed back at the man, unfazed. He kept a hard look in his eyes (you know, that glare he uses so often) as he spoke in low tones. "What are you doing here?"

"This is my hideout," he replied, grin gone. He wasn't wearing the makeup that changed him to look like L this time, and so he looked much different. Plus, Mello could now see him in a better light. He had the eyes of a killer – dead eyes – and his hair was unkempt as it had been before. "Do you remember me?" he asked.

"Of course I do," Mello snapped.

He smiled slightly. "Good; very good…."

"What do you want?" the chocoholic asked the man irritably, getting right to the point.

"I want nothing," he replied. "From you, anyway. I just came to my hideout in order to use it, but I can see now that it's occupied.

Mello grunted. "It seemed abandoned."

"It _was_. So it makes sense. However, I now know you're here, so it probably isn't smart to stay here with your friends because you don't trust me. Then I can't stay here because, of course, you know this place exists and would know I was here. And I, in turn, don't trust you. It seems it's no one's territory. Terribly sorry."

Mello scowled, knowing he was right. They'd need to find a new place either now or early tomorrow morning. "You don't need to tell me what to do; I understand things on my own."

"So do I. We have so much in common."

The blond's scowl deepened. This guy was irritating.

"In any case, I should probably be going, then…. It was nice seeing you again, Mello."

"How do you know L?" Mello asked abruptly, before he could turn around.

"I've met him. How else?"

"When?"

"That's a secret." He smiled crookedly. A young girl poked her head out from behind the corner, catching Mello's attention immediately. What was a kid doing with this guy? Was she his daughter? How old was she; nine? A nine-year-old shouldn't be hanging around this guy….

Mello only scowled again, glaring at the black-haired man. Who was this guy, anyway? The girl came out from behind the corner and stood beside the man. Her eyes, too, seemed darkened. "Who are you?" Mello asked him.

He smiled. Well, it was more of a smirk, or a lopsided half-smile that seemed more cruel than lighthearted. "I am the phoenix," he said, "and this is my mockingbird." He patted the girl's head as if to indicate her, then bowed. "Goodbye." And with that, the two of them walked away, turned the corner, and left the hideout.

Mello stared after them, and after a minute or so of just standing there, he slid down the pole and walked right to Sierra and Matt. "We need to move to another hideout," he told them, automatically getting complaints in return. He irritatedly tried to ignore them.

* * *

When they finally did find a place to stay, it was three o'clock in the morning and their new abode was rather shabby. Matt didn't even set up his equipment, because he knew they'd be moving out again the next day. Instead, he rolled a barrel in from outside to use as a chair, and sat upon it as he lit up a cigarette to smoke. Mello had actually decided to rest, so he was sleeping on the floor in what was once a nice living room. Sierra was given the bedroom, and it was assumed that she was sleeping soundly in there. Matt sighed, breathing out a stream of smoke.

Sierra shuffled in from the hallway, spotted Matt looking at her, and nearly retreated before just deciding to go out anyway. "…Hi," she greeted. Not seeing anything else to sit on, she sat on the floor, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"Hey," Matt responded. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

She didn't remove her eyes from the floor. "Yeah."

"Couldn't sleep?"

She shook her head.

"Am I allowed to ask why?"

She didn't answer at first, and looked up at Matt. He didn't seem to be looking at her, but she could never tell with those goggles. She looked back to the ground. "I don't know whether I should laugh or cry," she said.

He took another drag of his cigarette. "About what?"

She stared at a very interesting pebble. "Life, I guess."

He shrugged. "You know, that happens a lot with people under pressure. Laughing, I guess, is the most positive thing to do, but sometimes you just have to cry."

"Well, it's just that… laughter would be my first response because crying is so unfamiliar to me. You know… a lot of times… when I act hyper… it's really all fake. But when I laugh… that's fake too, and I don't even know what my real laugh sounds like. A laugh of happiness, I mean."

"I guess all I can say to that," Matt responded, "is that I'm gonna hope someday I hear your real laugh. And Mello will hear it too. Alright?"

The corner of Sierra's mouth twitched upwards. "Okay." Quietness filled the air, broken only by breathing, heartbeats, and the chorus of crickets outside. Possibly inside, too. "I want to tell you something," said Sierra, looking up at Matt.

"Hm?" He looked down at her.

"There was a day, one time, where I felt such terrible longing that I almost couldn't stand it. I missed Wayne and CJ, my brothers. I missed my mom, even though she was a bitch. I missed _Tony_, even though I hate him _so much_."

"Oh," Ryuk remarked in surprise.

"All of the things that I hated, like Tony; the things I thought I didn't need in life; the things I thought were meaningless and _insignificant_; things I didn't need, I missed so much, and I didn't know why." She looked to the ground again. "It didn't make sense…."

"Well, that's what you grew up with, isn't it?" Matt asked.

"…Yeah…."

"Things and people you grow up with you tend to grow attached to; it's how humans are."

Sierra blinked. "I guess…."

"Kehehe," Ryuk snickered. "Humans are so interesting…." He didn't voice aloud the thought of how pitiful he thought they were.

_Can it, Ryuk, _Sierra thought bitterly.

"Here, let me tell you a secret," said Matt. He smothered his cigarette on the edge of his barrel and flicked it away from him. "There came a time, when I was only two and a half, where my mother couldn't even recognize her own son. She left me alone, unaware I existed, and I had to somehow care for myself. As I grew older and I realized what was going on, I'm going to admit I resented her for all of it. For not caring for me like she should have. For forgetting who I was; her own _son_. For letting herself come to what she became in the end. Yet after it was all over, I wanted her back, mental instability and all." He shrugged. "It's just how our minds work."

Sierra stared at him. "Your mom… forgot who you were? That's horrible…." She averted her gaze, allowing it to travel to the ground again. "You had it worse…. My mom knew who I was, at least. She just ignored me."

"Well, think of it this way: my mom couldn't really help herself. I mean, I guess in a way it was her fault that her mind failed her because she _did _technically choose to fall, but… your mom actually chose to ignore you. Chose to leave you. That must suck."

Sierra frowned slightly, glaring at the ground. "My _past _sucks."

Matt sighed, smiling ever so slightly. "Well… welcome to the club. I guess we all have to stick together, huh? Me, you, and Mello, I mean."

Sierra forced a smile. "Yeah."

* * *

When I awoke, I at first felt fine. Then I opened my eyes, and the morning light immediately burned my eyeballs and seemed to drill into my head rather painfully. I closed my eyes again, placing my palms on my eyelids and pushing my eyeballs backwards into their sockets. I sat up, and the headache decided to come back immediately.

"_Aunt Natalie, I'm leaving_!" Anna called.

I put my hand to my forehead. "Don't yell, Anna…. Please don't yell…." I slowly got to my feet and shuffled to the door, opening it to begin my journey downstairs. I caught Anna just in time.

"Good morning, Aunt Natalie," she grinned.

I winced. "…Can you be… a little quieter?" I asked.

"Um, I was talking normally…." She tilted her head. "Are you okay?"

A sigh escaped my lips as I rubbed my temples. I felt kinda sick. _Light, I'm so sorry._ "Um… yeah…. I just have a really bad headache. Um…."

"Maybe it's a hangover," she remarked.

At first that didn't process right, but then Light's memories came into focus and all I could do was close my eyes and frown. "Yeah…. Probably." Unfortunately, even though the alcohol hadn't affected Light, the pain afterwards would definitely be felt. Great. Good job, L. And then I looked back on my own memories… on all that had happened the night before. "…I feel like an idiot."

"I thought you were funny, Aunt Natalie," Anna giggled, then gave me a hug goodbye before leaving.

I heaved a sigh, putting a hand to my head. Matsuda was going to wonder what had happened, for sure. What a day this would turn out to be.

* * *

"Aunt Natalie got drunk last night," Anna informed Gevanni happily once she got to headquarters.

"She did?" asked Halle.

"I thought she didn't drink," Gevanni said confusedly.

Anna shook her head. "She doesn't. L drugged her."

"What?" said Halle.

"Why?" Gevanni inquired.

My niece shrugged. "Something to do with the Bond."

"What about the Bond?" asked Near. "Surely L wouldn't have drugged Natalie on purpose for nothing?"

"Apparently he's found a loophole," Anna shrugged.

Near did that 'cute monkey' smile of his. "How interesting…." The smile disappeared. "Do you know what sort of loophole it was?"

"Um, no…. Sorry."

"That's alright." He went back to building his dice tower. The day went on as normal. Anna talked to Halle and Gevanni, sometimes including Rester in her conversations. She would occasionally try to talk with Near, but he made a horrible partner when it came to conversations. Time passed, little was accomplished, and as the day shifted to afternoon, reaching the brink of evening, Anna left and the rest of the SPK began to disperse. It was after everyone had left that Near contacted L. Why? Because if there _was _something that he was hesitant to say that Near would want to hear, he was more likely to say it with only Near around.

A large calligraphic L came up on all of the small screens put together. "Hello," Near greeted. He got straight to the point. "I heard you drugged Natalie last night. Something to do with a loophole in the Bond?"

"Of course," L responded. "I was planning on telling you. It's apparent that alcohol only affects the mind of the one who ingested it, despite the fact that person is Bonded to another. And of course, you'd know what this means…."

"Yes…." Near looked down at the two die in his hand. "This would imply that any poison would only affect one, and not the other. Someone with a Bond could be killed, without killing the one they're Bonded to."

"Precisely."

"Now, if it isn't a trouble to ask, why did you start working on the Sinful Murder cases?" Near asked out of curiosity.

"I'm on that both because I find it interesting and because the murderer is directly challenging me, as L."

"So I assume you know who the killer is?"

"Yes."

Near's mouth twitched. "May I know who it is, or is that question too prying?"

It was silent for a moment. L did not speak, and Near waited patiently for his response. "I don't see how that's relevant to you. You are not on that case."

"I may not be on that case, but he interfered with the Kira case in killing Misa Amane."

There was another pause. Then there was what Near thought to be a small sigh, and L spoke again. "I suppose that is good reason to want to know… but that information isn't necessary to you, Near. I apologize."

"I completely understand your reasoning," Near conceded, twirling his hair. "However, I deem it necessary to know a bit more about him, knowing he's killing people that affect me. Who's to say he won't try to kill another suspect, or even one of those in my group?"

"Well, he does have a specific pattern to his methods, so that isn't very likely."

"He killed Misa, didn't he? I'm sorry, but I would like to know who it was that disrupted my plan against Kira."

There was another small sigh, and more silence. Then, "The killer is Beyond Birthday, a first generation Wammy child. He also seems to enjoy impersonating me…. In fact, he was the one who interrupted your fake execution. If you feel the need to look into him, you can find his files under his name. Working with him is Sophia Ellis, another girl from the other world that is Bonded to Beyond."

"Thank you; I appreciate you telling me."

"Yes. Was there anything else you wanted to address?"

"No, that was all. Goodbye." And Near disconnected. "Hm…." Beyond Birthday. BB? Anna and the other three had mentioned someone like that, hadn't they? _Anna, do you know who Beyond Birthday is?_

_You mean BB? _Anna responded immediately. _Yeah, he's the guy who loves strawberry jam, remember?_

_Loves strawberry jam? _Near repeated dully.

_Yep! He was in Another Note, but Sierra never let me read that…._

_I see. Thank you._

_Of course!_

Near twirled his hair contemplatively. "A serial killer, a Wammy child, an L impersonator, and a lover of strawberry jam. What a combination. Now I need to decide what to do with him…." He stood up and headed to one of the computers to begin his search.

* * *

_**Fun Fact**_**: I sometimes write _BB _in sharpie on the lid of my jars of strawberry jam. Yep.**

**Review? For loopholes? :D**


	18. Chapter 18

_**Mrs. Lawliet**_**: **Well, well, Mrs. River. Careful, you may get a Real-life Anna angry with you, haha~~ Ahh, I love confusing people; don't you? Haha...  
Well, there's going to be a bit of Near in this chapter, so there's that. Unfortunately, I only just started liking Near a few months ago, so there's not going to be much of him for awhile. So, I'm sincerely sorry for that...  
In fact, in this chapter, I think I almost made him a bad guy, now that I think about it. .-. Oops...

_**Guest**_**: **Well, you're the first one to suggest that theory: L is Max. Hm. I cannot confirm or deny that theory... I think someone had a theory that Max was Matsuda, (or someone like that), though.

_**PlotBunnyMadness**_**: **I am aware that you are reviewing on chapter four of _It Is What It Is_, but I'll just hope you eventually read this. ('Cause I'm too awkward to just be a normal person and go to your profile to PM you as a reply.)  
Yeah, L and bells have a 'thing.' As you find out later on, those very bells were tolling while his father died, so...yeah.

* * *

Sierra, laughing hysterically, ran around their new and improved hideout: the old Japanese Kira investigation team headquarters. You know, that huge skyscraper L and company – including me – had used way back in 2004. Mello didn't know why he hadn't thought of this place sooner. (…He didn't know it existed until Sierra mentioned it.) All it took was for Matt to hack into the security system to let them in, and for him to make sure the electricity functioned. Now they had the perfect hideout. Mello admitted that it was a little big and a bit too fancy for his tastes, but it would do. The place was abandoned, after all; why not use it? Plus, it had maximum security (once Matt got everything working again) and that was something they could use.

_Does she have to run around like that? _Mello thought with a grimace.

"_Yes!_" Sierra called, looking back to grin at him. Well, I guess it wasn't smart to not look where she was going. She consequently ran smack into a wall.

Matt chuckled. "You okay?"

She jumped back to her feet. "Fine!"

Mello blinked confusedly, then put his hand to his head. That had _hurt._ He frowned. Great. _Don't tell me…. _He eyed the arm of the couch, then slammed his fist onto it.

"_Ow!_" Sierra yelped.

"What'd you do now?" Matt smirked.

"I dunno!"

_Does your hand hurt?_

_No…._

Mello frowned dully. _Don't lie, either._

…_A little…._

He twitched. Well, that settled it. "Sierra, we can feel each other's pain."

She stopped running and stared at him. It took a moment to process. "_What?_"

"Uh…," was Matt's intelligent remark.

"Ah! I don't want to reach the final stage!" Sierra cried.

"Me neither," Mello uttered.

"Right… that creepy stage," said Matt.

"Uh-huh…," Sierra replied. "And I don't think any of us want the two of us to reach that…."

"I'll admit that might be a bit disturbing," Matt agreed.

"It's not like we can do anything about it," Mello muttered.

"C'mon…," Ryuk snickered. "It can't be _that_ bad. Light went through that too, didn't he? And so did your aunt."

_Again, shut up, _Sierra frowned.

_What'd _I _do?_ Mello responded in irritation.

_You didn't… uh…. _"Hey Matt, don't we need food?"

Mello sighed. She'd changed the subject.

Matt got to his feet. "Right. I should probably do that…."

"By the way," said Sierra, calling after him, "get some food you think Mello might like that isn't chocolate." She'd been trying to feed him foods that weren't chocolate. So far, he hated everything but strawberries. Soon Matt was out the door and all that filled the silence was the hum of the computers. Both were absorbed in their own thoughts. Sierra was trying to imagine her and Mello at the last stage. It didn't work too well and whenever she _did _imagine it, it was just plain out creepy. Creepy, creepy, creepy. No, she didn't think she wanted to reach that stage. Mello, meanwhile, thought of the plan they had in place. Soon it would be carried out, now they had a suitable hideout to do the job. Yes, it would only be a matter of time….

There was a crash by the stairs, snapping both of them back to reality. Mello's hand went immediately to his gun. Both of them eyed what had fallen: Sierra's bag. "Uh…" said Ryuk, looking at the bag he'd knocked over, "…oops."

Sierra heaved a sigh and went over to pick her bag up. "Stupid gravity," she muttered.

"Sorry," Ryuk apologized, "I was trying to get an apple out of your backpack, but…. And don't glare at me for that, 'cause neither of you were paying attention." He snickered. "Yeah, you're so scary…." Sierra rolled her eyes and went back to the couch to sit down.

Mello frowned, but relaxed again, his hand going back to his side. A few more minutes passed… and Ryuk knocked the bag over again. "What the hell?" Sierra asked flatly, glaring pointedly in Ryuk's direction.

"Uh, oops again," he said, but he seemed amused. The bastard had done it on purpose this time, hadn't he? Sierra wouldn't be surprised. "Here…." He picked the bag up and set it back on the step. "See? No harm done. …Wait…."

Sierra went pale, glancing nervously over to Mello. His chocolate bar was halfway to its destination, and his mouth was slightly open. "What the fuck?" he asked dully. There was silence for awhile.

"Um… does this mean no apples for a while?" Ryuk asked, and snickered. He _had _done it on purpose. Damn it, Ryuk. Sierra guessed this was why it was bad to have the shinigami bored.

She fought the urge to facepalm. Hard.

"Sierra…," Mello said slowly. "…There's a shinigami here, isn't there? You _know _there's a shinigami here, don't you?"

"Uh… I guess so…."

"Sierra."

"…Yeah?"

"You have a Death Note, don't you?"

"U-uh…. Yeah…."

There was some awkward silence. Then, "Where is it?"

"Are you mad?" Sierra asked worriedly, unable to decipher his emotions. She felt nothing from him. "You're not going to mark me off as Kira and keep me locked up, are you?"

He looked at her oddly. "What? No. By the way… _are _you acting as Kira?"

"As one of them," Sierra admitted.

"Right…." He leaned back. "Show it to me." His voice was scarily low and void of emotion.

Sierra blinked twice; she had a real bad feeling that he was actually very, very angry and would snap any moment. She hesitantly got up and headed to her bag, then pulled out her supposed diary and brought it back to him.

"…Can I take an apple now?" Ryuk asked.

Sierra ignored him.

Mello took hold of the Death Note disguised as a diary, and looked up at Ryuk.

"Oh…," said Ryuk. "…Hi."

Mello looked back down to the notebook; flipped through its pages. He smirked down at it, which actually scared Sierra even more. "Do you know who the main Kira is?"

"No…."

"That's fine. I didn't think you'd know anyway." He gave a little _heh_.

"So… um… now what?" Sierra asked hesitantly.

"Now we have the Death Note." The corners of his mouth curled upwards ever so slightly. "This is perfect. With this… with this we can't possibly lose! Don't you get it? With this, we can finally make it to the top; we'll finally be number one! And I… I'll kill anyone who gets in our way."

* * *

It felt nice to wake up the next morning. I liked being able to hear people without getting a headache. Yes, very nice. Mornings were bad enough without all that.

In any case, I decided to come home a little earlier that Thursday night, for Sam wanted to be able to hang out with me for awhile. I understood perfectly. We didn't see each other often enough ever since she'd run off to America all those years ago. Not only that, but she knew and I knew that at some point we'd have to work against each other. It was only fact. She was Bonded to L, Light's enemy, and I conversely was Bonded to Light. I didn't look forward to the day we had to be enemies too.

Anna and I left the house at the same time, and for awhile we were able to walk together on our way to work. We discussed Sierra and how she might be doing, as well as wondered aloud when she and Sierra would reach the final stage with Near and Mello, respectively. Anna informed me that, at the moment, she and Near could still only feel one another's emotions. I was starting to work out what each stage was, and I dubbed the stage she was on to be the fourth stage of six before the final one. I wasn't quite sure where Sierra and Mello were….

Well, anyway, Anna and I soon parted as we had to head to our respective workplaces. Anna would head to SPK headquarters, and I would head to NPA headquarters. Ha.

Anna walked into the main HQ of the SPK building to see Near building up a tower of tarot cards. An unopened jar of what seemed to be strawberry jam was at his side. The thirteen-year-old could only gaze at it confusedly.

On Near's side, of course everything made sense. The night before, he'd made of L's words what he could. He'd said, 'In fact, he was the one who interrupted your fake execution.' That execution had happened back in April, and it was at that time that L had been working on the cases around the world. Therefore, Beyond Birthday was also the killer in those cases, for he would have no other reason to interrupt Near's plan at that time. It was probably a way to get Samantha worried about her friends back in Japan.

Near learned from Anna that Beyond was the killer of the Los Angeles BB Murder Cases as well, and with this he used his research. As he looked up these cases in Los Angeles, he discovered that he was also the killer of the Morbid Artistry Murder Cases, which spanned from April first – the day the first victim was found – to April nineteenth – when Beyond was detained again. But he was put in a psychiatric hospital up in San Luis Obispo County this time, an institution known as Atascadero State Hospital. There was no record of his escape….

So Near went back to around the time the Sinful Murder Cases began: May thirty-first. He looked through the news of late May and discovered there was a man known as Brian Bachman who was reunited with his daughter, Selena Bachman. That could only have been him. Now, just to make sure, he checked to see if Beyond had used that alias anywhere else….

He had.

'Brian Bachman' had gotten a room in the Teito Hotel, and if the hotel's records didn't lie, it was also the hotel Misa Amane had been staying at right before she was killed. It had to be him. Near could find the exact room on the exact floor he was staying at, and because of this he knew how to find him. Perfect.

He'd been told by Anna that he loved strawberry jam, thus the strawberry jam that was placed at his side. He was also told by L that Sophia Ellis was working with him. According to the newspaper article from California, Sophia (or 'Selena Bachman') was only nine years old. It had been discovered that there was a loophole in the Bond. Near would dispose of Beyond. Not Sophia. It would not be direct; it would not be a murder. Near thought over the fact that maybe Anna's emotions could be clouding his judgment here, but decided against it; they were _her _emotions; not his own. Anna had told him later on that Beyond had the Shinigami Eyes… B wasn't even human. This disposal was only to ensure that Beyond both did not kill anyone else, and also so that Kira could be caught faster and thus so many others would be saved. Inside that strawberry jam that was placed on the floor at Near's side, arsenic was mixed in. A fatal poison. Beyond, the killer, would die. Sophia, the child, would live. The end.

But Near waited. He had Gevanni hack into the security system of the Teito hotel, and after this was accomplished had Rester watch the video of the room Beyond and Sophia stayed in. He made sure that his face matched the picture of Beyond birthday in the criminal records of Los Angeles, and they did. Near would make his move while he and Sophia were both gone. This didn't happen until soon after lunchtime.

He held out the jar of jam and a slip of paper to Anna once the time came. "Anna," he said, "could you take this to someone for me?"

She blinked twice, taking it. "Um, sure. Who am I taking it to?"

"Gevanni met another girl from your world; her name is—"

"Sophia?" Anna interrupted. "I know her! We're friends, you know."

"Are you? Good. Do you know where she lives?"

"No…."

Near nodded, and handed her another slip of paper. "These are the directions."

"Okay," she said, taking them. She grinned. "Got it; I'll be back!"

Near twirled his hair. "Yes; thank you."

Anna began her trip to deliver death….

I, meanwhile, lounged on the couch with Sam, having gone home right after lunch. We were finally able to talk; hang out for hours on end. It was nice to do that every once in awhile. Savor it while the time was here.

There was a ring of the doorbell. _Ding-dong_.

Sam and I looked at one another. I shrugged. Sam was the one to get to her feet and head to the door. She opened it to see Sophia standing there. For a second or two, there was utter silence.

I tried to peer behind Sam to see who it was. "Who is it?" I asked her.

"You!" Sam exclaimed, then swung a hit down low to our unidentified guest.

I jumped to my feet and ran over to see Sophia there. "What are you _doing_?" I asked Sam. Sophia was clutching her stomach.

"This girl," Sam exclaimed, "was working with the guy who tried to _kill me_!" She made a move to kick her again, but the nine-year-old surprisingly flipped backwards.

"…_What?_" Well, that put Sophia in a whole new light, now, didn't it? So _she _was the one Bonded to BB….

Sophia suddenly brought her leg up and swung her foot at Sam's face, but Sam bent backwards into a bridge and kicked up. Sophia bent back herself and ducked, then slid between Sam's arms before her feet landed, consequently ending up behind her. Sam spun around to face her, but as she did so Sophia swerved around her and ran right out the door. "Well bye, Natalie!" she called with a huge grin, and continued speeding away. Sam and I stared after her.

I looked to Sam. "Epic moves," I complimented.

Sophia ran and ran and ran until she reached her destination: B. He was waiting for her a block away. She ran right to him, and of course he said, "There you are, sweetie," as a part of the act they had to play. Sophia was still his daughter, and he was still her dad. Yes, it was the perfect little family of liars and masks and murderers. But she was okay with that and he was okay with that, so she guessed it was okay.

They were headed to one of their multiple hideouts hidden throughout Tokyo. The one they had meant to use had been occupied by Mello and his friends (Mail Jeevas and Sierra Terrell). B hadn't been able to see Sierra's lifespan, but he had yet to figure out what that meant. The Teito Hotel, where they had been staying for awhile, was to be left behind today; they even checked out like normal people.

Their next hideout was an old bomb shelter from some war; World War II, most likely. Neither of them really cared. It was another underground one, but this one had two beds. It was less roomy, but more cozy, and I guess you could say they liked it like that. Space didn't necessarily matter in the long run. Yes, it was much better than the hotel they left behind, crowded with people and certainly not to their liking….

And, at this hotel they'd just recently left behind, Anna made her way through the front doors and headed to the room specified. She had to ask the grumpy lady at the desk named Rin Saito for a key of sorts, and eventually she got one. She tried making friendly conversation with her ("Cool, your name is Rin? I like that name!"), but Saito didn't seem to appreciate the talk. Or anything. Whatever. Anna just dubbed her to be a jerk and eventually just made her way to Sophia's room to drop off the jam. "I didn't know she liked jam," she remarked. "Huh…."

She walked into the room, carefully placing the jam on the bedside table. She noticed a faded red blanket lying out on the bed. Anna supposed it was Sophia's, since it didn't fit in with the hotel décor. The thing reminded her of Blankie, her own blanket owned since birth that had been left back in her original world. Well, no time to think about that now. She had to get back to SPK headquarters. So, she left the jam and faded red blanket behind….

The blanket.

_My blanket!_ Sophia thought in alarm. It was the one thing she had left of her home, of her family, of the person she could have been. Who she almost was. Connected to Beyond and influenced by his mind at a young age, she was generally lacking in any emotion, but through it all she had kept an attachment to that blanket. Her mind was really only a recreation of B's consciousness, but that blanket set her apart as another person. It gave her a little sense of individuality. It made her her own being, in a way.

She had to go back to get it.

B, typically, knew this the moment she did, and after setting the laptop on a small table, he headed back out with her to get that blanket. The hotel wasn't too terribly far from there, so it didn't take long to get back. B waited outside the hotel doors while Sophia went in. She told Rin Saito of her predicament, and asked for a room key. With a sigh, she gave it to her, and Sophia hurried to the elevator to go up to their second-story hotel room.

Down the hallway she walked, oh-so-calmly. Now that she was about to get it back anyway, all emotion dulled and deadened again to the emptiness it was before. Even when she had been anxious, it wasn't even really that much of an emotion. It was almost more of a need, like eating or sleeping or finding shelter.

Sophia opened the door.

She walked, taking long strides, to her bed, and grabbed her faded blanket immediately, clutching it tight and holding it to her chest. It was still soft, and it had the distinct scent of something left behind. She turned to the door, about to head out, but something on the nightstand caught her eye. Strawberry jam. She tapped the lid with her finger; it was unopened. Huh, what a surprise. She lifted it and grabbed the piece of paper beneath it. This paper was folded, so she opened it up to see text in an almost typewriter-like font.

_To: B_  
_From: L_

Her mouth twitched into a sneer. "Now you're just copying us, L…." She gave a little giggle; her own natural laugh. It was childish and cute, yet somehow dark. _Such a tease…. He knows where we are? Good for him. We're moving anyway. _Sophia giggled derisively, and Beyond chuckled darkly. _This doesn't matter anyway… you won't be beating us _this _time._

Holding the jar of jam in the crook of her arm, her blanket draped over her shoulder and the note clutched in her hand, Sophia made her way out the door. B would love to have some jam later, they were sure.

* * *

**Uh-oh...**

_**Fun Fact**_**: Looking back on this little bit, I'm really questioning and trying to re-rationalize Near doing this. .-. The second time around, it doesn't seem like him at all. ...Carp.**

**Review? For, uh, strawberry jam?**


	19. Chapter 19

**_Mrs. Lawliet_: **Tsk, tsk, you most certainly _should _have a talk with that husband of yours. Ahh, Samsam's got some skills ever since the final stage was reached~ Yep, it is possible that he took over, though. .u.

_**Guest**_**: **In a way, Near has done something considered bad, so kinda. Then L has killed off children and Mello has kidnapped and not to mention Light has killed countless criminals. It makes one wonder who the good guy really is; hmm...  
Ahh, yes, I suppose we'll see how it goes with BB. You're right, eventually his killing spree will have to be cut off, won't it? It's justice, after all.  
Matt or even Mello, now, huh? Hmm, so many possibilities.  
Great name? EndingsAndBeginnings; huh... I honestly just came up with that randomly because I didn't know what to name myself. xD

_**Amy**_**: **Mello and a Death Note...yikes.  
Uh-oh.  
Hmm, so many theories on who Max could be. I cannot confirm or deny anything. As usual.

**Ahh, first of all I would like to apologize for not responding to...responses. PM's; you know. I've been rather busy... I will get around to answering everyone - I promise - but for now I'll just answer reviews. So there's that...**

**Also, you're probably wondering why I'm updating on a Tuesday. Well, it's _because I can. _(I'm going to busy tomorrow, so I'd probably forget otherwise. ^^;) The good news is, it's going to be a _double __update _this week because not only has this story reached 150 reviews, but _It Is What It Is _has reached 300!**

**...I seriously love you guys.**

**So, a weird Tuesday update today, and a second update on Thursday! Hooray for abnormalities! :D**

**Now. Anyway. Enjoy, dear readers of mine~**

* * *

Sam and I chatted for awhile after, all the way up to the point where Anna got home. I got some food ready to cook, and told the both of them what they should do when they got hungry. I made sure it was a simple dinner, just in case. With this, I headed over to Light's again to work out with him B's next move. He'd be killing again tonight, that much we knew. We even knew where it would be: Ikebukuro. It is said that there are three possible origins to that district's name, for it literally meant 'pond bag.' One of these possible origins was that, long ago, a turtle came out of a pond with a bag on its back, thus the turtle figurine with the bag placed on its shell. Now, if only we could tell who the next victim was…. There had to be a victim pattern. Who would be killed tonight…?

Saki Ijiri lay sedated on the ground of the alley. Daughter of an important family and spoiled rotten; a perfect choice for tonight's kill. Alright, first off with the hands, yes? She didn't need them anymore anyway. B cut one off, Sophia cut the other. Blood sputtered from the stubs. They expected this, though, and knew to move out of the way. Next were the feet to sever. Beyond took off her designer boots, tossing them behind him carelessly. They noticed Saki had her fingernails and toenails painted a pretty gold. Her lips were a lavish red. She was beautiful, sure, but also a little brat, ignorant of the pain around her and strutting through life with a cocky and arrogant air. But then, ignorance is bliss, isn't it? Her dark brown hair was thick and silky, her eyes a deep brown. But B and Sophia saw people for who they really were, and to be honest, if they had cared, they wouldn't have liked her very much.

Poor, poor, Saki Ijiri.

Next to go was the head; that would certainly end it all. Her life would end…_ now_, as the large knife sliced through her flesh, severing veins and arteries and muscles and tendons; slipping between two pieces of the spine and rupturing a spinal disc before making its way out to the end. Her body seized up then went limp as blood sprayed up, up, up, spattering the wall in a pattern that shot upwards, reminiscent of a beautiful fountain. Her head rolled away, mouth open, her eyes now wide and pupil-less. B walked over to the detached cranium and lifted it.

"You aren't so pretty now, are you?" Beyond whispered into her ear, then tied a blindfold around her unseeing eyes. Sophia started gathering up the hands and feet. He went over to help her, and in the shadow of night, when no one was looking, they placed the body parts in their respective places. They left the body in the alley to be found the next day. Their kill for the night was done; it was time for them to go back to their hideout. Beyond was hungry. There was nothing like a celebratory snack of strawberry jam to follow a successful murder. Thank you, L, for your little treat.

It took a bit longer to reach their destination from Ikebukuro, but it's not like they couldn't handle it. Under the light of the waxing moon, they slipped into their current abode to rest. Beyond walked straight for the strawberry jam, but hesitated. His hand lingered near the jar. It had taken awhile to get here… he wasn't hungry anymore. His hand dropped to his side. Sophia grabbed it, staring at it. It really was a shame that he wasn't hungry… it would have been such a nice treat. Maybe he'd eat it anyway…. No. Not now.

Sophia made her way over to the small food area and grabbed a small spoon. It was one of the few differences between her and Beyond: she didn't like having her hands sticky. She sat beside B on a little stool and watched as he turned on the computer. She opened the jar and set the lid on the table with a little sigh. Yes, B would have liked strawberry jam…. Maybe he'd have just a mouthful. A little later.

Sophia, meanwhile, dug in. She liked strawberry jam too, after all, and if Beyond wouldn't enjoy it, she would. And even though B wasn't eating it, he could still taste its sweet strawberry goodness in his mouth. He didn't necessarily _enjoy _it – he didn't really enjoy anything, save for beating L – but it was nice. So Beyond did his research for his next murder (which would take place next Tuesday) as Sophia sat beside him, eating jam silently. She ate slowly after the first few bites, just in case B might want some, but eventually it was decided he probably wouldn't have any. At some point the jar was emptied, and the two of them sat in silence.

Another hour passed of research, though B's head was starting to annoy him. Sophia, too, seemed to be getting a small headache. She rubbed her eyes. Perhaps she would go to bed. Yes, and Beyond would be right behind her. He'd sleep soon after her, and go to his own respective bed. Sophia slid off the stool and shuffled to her resting place, quite ready to go to sleep. Her bed was the one closest to the door; Beyond's was the one farthest. She snuggled up under the dull-colored sheets, grasping at her faded red blanket. She gripped her little piece of who she almost was, but wasn't, tightly, and closed her eyes. She eased herself into slumber rather quickly.

Beyond stayed up around thirty minutes more before closing the laptop and heading to his own resting place. Maybe some rest would get rid of that annoying headache…. It was odd; he never got headaches. Oh well; tonight was an exception, he supposed. Soon his eyes, too, were closed as he rested almost peacefully, dreaming only of darkness…. His thoughts meshed with hers, and her mind created fleeting images and colors. It wasn't quite dreaming, but it wasn't the dark, dreamless sleep that Beyond used to have, either. They sank deeper into slumber, the colors sweeping past their sleeping eyes. Time passed. The colors and images seemed to grow frantic. Fluttery, almost. But the colors would continue to play and appear and disappear, almost comforting. And then….

…All was black.

The images; the colors; they were shut off. Just… suddenly gone, like the flip of a switch. A candle being blown out. And in this darkness Beyond immediately awoke, as if he'd been jolted awake. His heart was thudding in his chest like it was fighting to keep him alive, to keep him in existence. It was almost as though he'd just gone through the In-Between and died again. But the worst thing was the horrid emptiness he felt, ready to swallow him whole.

He threw off the bed sheets and flicked on the light switch of the lamp between him and Sophia to confirm what he already knew. His heart continued to thud against his ribcage. He grabbed at Sophia's shoulder; turned her around so he could see her face. There were no numbers above her head; the name Sophia Ellis had disappeared. No, _no_, that couldn't be. Not a single one of her lifespans was set for today, and… and…. No, his eyes couldn't have betrayed him. Not only that, but the Bond had lied. _He should have died too_.

He felt for her pulse. There wasn't anything. What went wrong? Her hands were still holding onto that blanket of hers. Her hands; her dead hands. She was still warm, but he knew how death worked. She'd be cold before long. The warmth of life would slowly seep away, leaving behind only an empty shell. An empty shell….

Half of him was gone. He couldn't ease this horrible feeling. He couldn't get her back this time, death had stolen half of him away, which didn't make sense because Beyond _was _death. It didn't make sense; no, none of this made sense! He felt his soul trying to grasp at something that wasn't there. His being was torn. Torn in half. And he couldn't sew it back together.

B had known emptiness. Death, surrounding him everywhere, had taken away the feeling of wholeness, leaving him with nothing. He was used to emptiness. But now? A Bond so strong, suddenly cut off just like that? It was worse than any kind of emptiness than he'd ever known, which of course, like everything else, didn't make sense because B was the epitome of emptiness. He'd been empty as long as he could remember. But no, no, not like this….

He fell to his knees. The hollowness was tearing at his chest, pounding in his head. He was at the brink of nothing, at the brink of everything. _This _was what it was to be truly empty. He could barely stand it. How could he keep on…? How could he…? He screwed his eyes shut, curling forward. It would ease off, wouldn't it? He was dead. He was alive. He was restless, but he couldn't move. He clenched his teeth. Ripped off his shirt on auto-pilot. Clutched at his chest, clawed at it, creating long lines of crimson. _Stop it_. How could he—? He wasn't even a full person anymore, he couldn't— But—

_L._

Taking shallow breaths, Beyond stared at nothing, his hands near the sides of his head. L. He still had L to beat. B's hands dropped to his sides. He still had L to beat. That's what he had to do. What did this matter in the long run anyhow? He'd learned early in life that death came to everyone he knew. That's why he never grew close to anyone. Sophia was the exception because of the Bond. He just didn't expect her death. Not this time. Especially with him still alive after. He took a deep breath. He'd beat L. He'd do that, and he'd be done. That's all he had to do. He could stand this, and if it truly didn't ease, he had enough will to keep going if it meant defeating L.

Filled with a sense of dull calm, he still felt hollow and restless. Dizzy, too. He stood up without expression. What was emptiness to him anyway? He'd lived with it all his life, hadn't he? So what if it just got turned up a notch? Beyond was no ordinary human after all. He was the human reaper, the mortal shinigami. Something like this could be stood easily. He'll admit that for awhile he wouldn't quite be himself, but that was fine. He'd get the job done, and that's all he needed.

* * *

L gazed at the new information on his screen, deep in thought. Saki Ijiri, daughter of the well-known Ijiri family. So far, the police force had only found her body in an alley, in the district of Ikebukuro. One of her hands, too, had been found by a civilian looking into a tree while walking down the sidewalk. One hand, two feet, and a head were still missing.

L released a small sigh. What could he be trying to say here? He supposed he'd only be able to tell once the missing body parts were found…. Sam opened the door, entered, and closed it gently behind her. L took the lollipop stick out of his mouth and stood, heading over to the garbage to throw it out. He didn't need to greet her, and she didn't need to announce her presence. L sat down – yes, actually sat, with one knee up – and Sam merely sat down beside him.

Sam eyed his hand, but soon disregarded the urge to grasp it and looked to the screen again. L smiled ever so slightly and reached out to grip her hand. She shifted slightly, but of course accepted the gesture.

Well, of course the first thing they had to figure out was what Saki represented. He bit the thumbnail of the hand that wasn't grasping Sam's. Saki Ijiri, a girl who didn't know the meaning of value…. Frivolousness? Maybe. Or perhaps it had to do with how she was given everything without needing to work for it. Indulgence, perhaps? No… that word didn't quite fit….

There was a beep as his computer alerted them that Aizawa was trying to contact him. L pressed the connection button and spoke into the microphone. "Yes, Chief Aizawa?"

"Er," Aizawa said, "we found the victim's head, L."

"Good, please send Watari an image." With this blunt response, he disconnected. After a few minutes of waiting, the image came through. Saki had been blindfolded. Yes, that must have been the clue. The clue to what she represented…. Unseeing… Blind…. Unable to see what was in front of her. Ignorance? It fit her. Yes, ignorance must have been it. So the pattern was sickness, obsession, Pandora's box, hatred, and ignorance? What came next? In fact… was there a next? Surely there must be. The Bonded pair was left in silence as they puzzled over what could be next in this pattern….

* * *

"Okay," Matt informed his friend, "if you go mad with power or some stupid shit like that, I'm going to whack some sense into you, okay?"

Mello frowned at him. "I'm not going to 'go mad with power or some stupid shit like that.'"

Sierra giggled, and Ryuk snickered. "I dunno, that notebook affects every human differently," the shinigami remarked.

"Just don't let the power go to your head," Matt shrugged. "Then you're good."

"I won't let that happen either!" he snapped.

Matt chuckled. "Good," he said, then grabbed an apple from the basket.

The shinigami made a noise of surprise. "Hey!"

Matt looked up at the death god with a mouthful of apple. "Eh, I don't like it much anyway. You still want it?" He held it up to him.

"How could you not want it?" Ryuk asked blankly.

"Because I don't. I guess you do, though," he responded, quirking an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but you took a bite of it already." Ryuk sounded disappointed.

Matt shrugged and set the red fruit on the table. Poor apple. "For a shinigami, you aren't very threatening." He turned to my niece. "So Sierra," said Matt, "how long have you had the notebook, exactly?"

"Uh… I remember it was in April when I got it," she offered.

"Okay, before or after Mello got out of jail?"

"After."

"How long after?"

"Um… maybe… a week?"

"So we'll say the twenty-first, the twenty-second, or the twenty-third of April you got this thing," Matt said with a nod.

"Er, yeah… maybe." She eyed Ryuk, who had snatched the bitten apple off the table anyway.

"_My _question is why you didn't tell us," Mello muttered.

"Because I was working as Kira!" Sierra snapped. "And with you guys _against _Kira, I didn't think it would be a good idea to tell you!"

"Well, she has a point there," Matt shrugged.

"Still," said Mello, still sounding irritated, "why were you acting as Kira in the first place?"

She grew quiet, her gaze lowering to the ground. "…I wanted to kill people like Tony."

Mello paused in bringing his chocolate up to his mouth, then lowered it. Matt eyed her through the goggles. "Well, that makes sense." Matt chuckled. "I guess you're lucky, though. Some people don't have specific people that made their lives crappy. Sometimes they don't know who caused it, sometimes they don't remember," – he eyed Mello at that – "and sometimes it's no one's fault." He shrugged.

"Yeah… I guess so…," Sierra agreed.

"In any case," said Mello, "we've got a plan to get together."

"Right," said Matt, while Sierra just nodded.

"We'll make the kidnapping next Wednesday," he said. "It's Friday now, so we have five days before we carry this out. Before then, we'll use the surveillance cameras we were using on Misa for Natalie so we know when to strike. I'll stalk her if I have to."

Sierra shifted uncomfortably. "Uh, one, that's kinda creepy…."

"I could stalk her instead," Matt offered, then looked to Mello. "You got to stalk the cute girl last time," he added, cocking an eyebrow.

She furrowed her brow. "Um, that's still creepy. But oh well…."

Matt snickered.

"Two, we're kidnapping my aunt… why?"

"We're kidnapping her because she's connected to Kira. Not just connected, actually, she's _working_ as Kira," Mello informed her. "Plus, she's got the mind sync with the main Kira, which may be useful as long as we don't give too much away to her."

"Wait, she's gonna know our location even if we blindfold her. She's lived in this place before, hasn't she?" Matt pointed out. "And if she knows where she is, then so does Light, and therefore the police."

"Yes," Mello agreed. "That's why she isn't going to be staying in one of the actual rooms. We'll be keeping her in the basement instead."

"The basement?" Sierra asked. "Isn't that… kinda mean?"

"Where else will we keep her?" Mello shot back. "Besides, it's not like we'll starve her or anything; she's still going to get all the necessities. I'm not heartless."

"I know," she responded in a soft voice.

"Okay, but the next question is how we're getting her here," said Matt. "We can't just steal her away in broad daylight. Of course, I could always be the distraction again, but I have a feeling that's not what you're going for this time."

Mello shook his head. "Natalie's not all high and mighty like Takada was. She doesn't have bodyguards or tons of people watching her. This is going to be one of those low-profile kidnappings. It'll happen while she's walking home, or just going out that day. If an opportunity doesn't come up on Wednesday, then we'll do it the next day, or the day after that. I'd prefer it to happen faster, though. We'll try to get it done on Wednesday…. If necessary, Matt, you can shoot off a smoke bomb to cause confusion."

"Cool," Matt responded. "Got it."

"Now before we do anything… we still have to get some rope. We can use cloth as a blindfold if we have to, so we're good on that."

"Do we get to use the chloroform for this one?" Matt asked, traces of excitement in his tone.

"What? We have that?" Sierra asked confusedly.

Matt scoffed. "Of course we have that. What, do you think I only keep electronics in all of my bags?"

"Uh…," she responded. "…Yeah."

He snickered. "Nope. Those bags are also where I keep all my smoke bombs, my ammunition, and of course you can't forget the chloroform."

"…Huh."

"Well, anyway," said Mello, getting to his feet, "I need to go find some rope lying around somewhere. It's not going to be in this place…." He looked to Matt. "And Matt, yes, we might use the chloroform if she struggles. But you've gotta remember she's a trained police officer now."

"Of course," Matt responded.

"Also, while I'm out, you can work on getting this place's security working."

"Roger," he saluted.

Sierra raised her hand. "Can I come with you?" she asked the blond.

"Sure," he replied. "Just make sure you keep up and don't get sidetracked."

"'Kay!" she yipped, and followed behind him as he headed out of the old investigation headquarters.

* * *

**Alright, so who who saw it coming that Sophia would be the one to die?**

**I've gotta say I really loved writing that death scene, though...**

_**Fun Fact**_**: Rereading this now, I can only think of _Durarara_ when I see that that took place in Ikebukuro. At the time of writing this, I didn't know the anime, and...there's actually a girl named Saki in that anime.**

**Oops.**

**Review? For kidnapping!**


	20. Chapter 20

_**Mrs. Lawliet**_**: **Ahh, smoke bombs are fun, but I think Matt's more excited about the chloroform~  
You wish BB to cry? Ahh, be careful, it may just happen at one point... I would have loved to have made him cry in that scene. Unfortunately, I did not. *sigh* Mm, it's good that you punish Near; yes. He deserves it for having caused the death of a nine-year-old.

**Again, thank you guys for all the reviews. ;w;**

**Enjoy the extra chapter~**

* * *

Being torn in half got easier to handle after awhile. Beyond couldn't sleep the rest of the night – morning, really – that Sophia had died, but after lying exactly two hours thirty-seven minutes and forty-nine seconds in his bed, staring at the ceiling, he decided to just get up. What was the point in sleeping anyhow? It was only rest, replenishing the body. L rarely slept. B didn't necessarily need it either.

He got up at 5:44 am that morning. It was only sixteen minutes off of his usual time of awakening, at six. Though, he had been lying there wasting time for the past couple hours. After all that time, he decided to just sit up, and he did so. His eyes were open, they hadn't closed but to blink the whole rest of the night. He wasn't sure why he hadn't realized it was futile to try to sleep earlier. Though just lying there and doing nothing at all was rather nice, now that he thought about it.

It was Friday. Saki Ijiri would be found this morning. He vaguely wondered how the search was going. How many pieces of her had they found…? He turned his head to look over to the bed nearby. Sophia was still lying peacefully there, curled up beneath the covers. He blinked slowly, then swung his legs over the side of the bed mechanically, standing up without expression. He headed to the kitchen, passing the table he and Sophia had sat at last night to reach the fridge. His hand grasped at the handle of the fridge door, and he opened it. He grabbed a jar of jam from inside.

Beyond stood there for a moment or two, the fridge open before him and the jam in his hand. Jam…. His eyes shifted to the empty jam jar by the sink that Sophia had placed there. The jam L had given them. What had killed Sophia, anyhow? Beyond forgot he had jam in his hand. The jar slipped and shattered on the ground. He looked down at it blankly. It took a moment. "…Oops." He closed the fridge, grabbed a washcloth and broom, and swept up the mess before wiping the floor.

Once this was finished, he sat upon his chair at the table and thought. Would L kill Sophia? No…. The jam had been meant for him. Would L kill him? It didn't seem right. But was it the jam L had given B that had killed Sophia? Was it poisoned? Why would L do that? Was B really bothering L that badly? It wasn't good to assume such things. B had to work hard through it all, and….

What had that headache been last night? Beyond never had headaches, and neither did Sophia. Could that have been an effect of poison?

Oh, Beyond hadn't had breakfast yet….

He stood again; headed to the fridge. Grabbed some jam, sat back down, and ate slowly. It tasted nice. Familiar.

Right.

The poison.

Was that what had killed her? Why hadn't Beyond died with her? He licked some jam off his finger and closed his eyes. Poison. A loophole, he supposed. But was different between being poisoned and being killed in any other way…? Poison, drugs? Drugs, sedatives. _Sedatives_. When one was sedated, the other wasn't. Was that it? Perhaps….

Hm.

Now, if L had left that jar of jam, and that jar of jam had been poisoned, then L had poisoned that jar of jam with the intent to kill B. That still didn't quite make sense. But if that was true… then L had killed Sophia. _Someone _had killed Sophia. Who? He needed to figure that out. He needed to figure out who had ripped him in half. It wasn't a very pleasant feeling.

Beyond didn't do much the next few hours. He just sat in that chair, thinking, his eyes vacant. His mind would flip from one subject to another, until at last he stood. It was noon. The jar of jam went beside the sink, though Beyond made sure he set the possibly-poisoned jar aside. Then he made his way to Sophia's bed. He gazed at her for a moment before slowly pulling away the sheets. She was cold, he noticed, but of course she was. He turned her over so she was lying on her back. Touching her gave B a vague, fleeting notion of being at peace. Perhaps it was because of this that his hands lingered at the nine-year-old's shoulders. But of course he would pull away, and he would finish what he was doing.

He gently loosened Sophia's grip on her special blanket, then laid it out overtop her. Like he was at a wake without a coffin. And then, he was the only visitor…. He lingered again for a moment, then headed to the back of their underground hideaway to grab a shovel. Tool in hand, he emerged aboveground to begin digging. Making sure he wasn't directly above the hideout, he stuck the metal into the ground. And he dug, shovelful by shovelful of dirt. The earth was already upturned, and thus easier to dig up. Clouds seemed to be coming in from the northwest, slowly but surely. The ground was dry. Perhaps it would rain, but then Sophia's grave would be nothing but mud….

Beyond blinked, pausing in his digging. He couldn't just bury her in mud. Both she and her beloved blanket would get dirty. Perhaps he could find some sort of makeshift coffin…. Yes. He'd find a coffin. The cheapest one in the undertaker's possession. Leaving the shovel behind, he headed into the city. He patted his pocket; he had some money. Don't ask him how he got it, because he isn't going to answer.

Now where was the nearest mortician's shop? Yes, it was actually nearby. Only a mile….

Beyond paid no attention to the names and numbers and faces that passed him by on the sidewalks today. He only made his way to where he needed to be. It wouldn't take that long. A man accidentally brushed against B, muttering an, "Excuse me," out of habit in apology. B barely processed it. He eventually reached his destination, crossing through a relatively small parking lot before reaching a mahogany door. It opened without a creak.

He didn't hesitate to go to the desk where a girl with cropped brown hair sat, typing away at a computer. Her name was Nana Tsukuda, she was only eighteen, and she had around three years left to live. Poor her. B felt no sympathy. "I'd like a coffin," he said bluntly.

"Would you also like a funeral planned?" she replied, not looking up. She injected sympathy into her tone, but her body language was too perky. "A wake?"

"Just a coffin," he told her without much inflection. "For a child."

The girl looked up. At first her eyes had this fake sympathy coming from a girl who knew only happiness. She couldn't grasp other's pain unless it affected her; unless it was someone in her life that was hurt. But then… perhaps it was something she saw in his eyes, B didn't know, but the sympathetic smile just melted away as real sympathy flooded into her features. Maybe she could see the whole 'half of me is gone' or the 'I feel like my soul got ripped out' thing in those grey orbs of his that were supposedly supposed to be the doorways to the soul. Whatever. It didn't matter.

"O-oh…," she said softly, stuttering slightly. Her eyes were wide.

He gazed at her dully, waiting. Goodness, it wasn't _that _bad. Stop freaking yourself out about it, Nana.

"I'll get who you need," she said in a low voice, then stood up. "Please follow me."

Beyond obeyed without a word. They passed through another mahogany door and into a room filled with coffins, prices set up atop them or hung on their sides. There was a tall, sharp-looking man in a suit talking to a family of three. Beyond noticed that the father was not present. He was probably the one who'd been lost. The mother seemed most grief-stricken, the two young children only seemed confused. They didn't get death yet. Beyond's mouth twitched. Ha. He'd gotten death by then.

The sharp-looking man caught Nana and B out of the corner of his eye and turned to them. He was bald and his eyes were striking, and now that Beyond could see his face he could see his name was Takumi Takenaka. He was probably the man he was looking for. Takenaka turned to the family of three and presumably told them to wait a moment as he walked over to B and Nana. Beyond could tell easily from his eyes that he understood death much better than Nana or the mother or the two children.

He greeted B with a smile. "Hello, I'm Takenaka." He bowed. B just stared blankly, not even returning the gesture. "How may I help you?"

"I need an inexpensive coffin," he said dully. "It needs to be the size fit for an average-height nine-year-old…." His voice trailed off as his gaze wandered to the window. The sun was shining so happily. Hah.

Takenaka nodded in understanding and gestured for Beyond to follow him, though the broken-Bonded man didn't even notice. "Nana, you can go back to your desk," he informed the girl. This brought B back to reality.

She nodded. "Alright…."

As Nana turned round to leave the room, Takenaka made his way over to the section in which they could find the children's coffins, Beyond following behind him. The smaller coffins and the special ones were apparently on the second floor, so of course that's where they were headed. The buying of the casket wasn't very eventful. He was offered a variety of coffins, but he picked one he could afford without stealing the thing. It turned out he was actually given a more expensive and nice one out of generosity (it seemed Takenaka saw the look in his eyes too), but Beyond didn't even notice. He was offered help in taking the coffin to where he needed it, but he just accepted a dollie and was on his way.

The sun didn't seem to be shining so happily now. The clouds were at last rolling in, making everything less bright and more dark. It wasn't dark quite yet, but it would be soon. Knowing this made B slightly more comfortable, for as always darkness was his home, and the shadows and the silence were his friends. It would be quieter than ever now, though, since the whispers of Sophia's subconscious would be gone. The quietness had never seemed so silent and unfamiliar. It was like a close friend had betrayed him. But he would mend his ties, and besides, he still had the shadows. Those couldn't leave him unless he was trapped in a world of light. And that wouldn't be happening anytime soon.

When he reached the outside of his hideaway, he set the coffin on the ground before discarding the dollie and resuming the process of digging Sophia's grave. He vaguely wondered how he would lower the coffin into the hole, but then decided that he could figure that out once he actually got to the point where he needed to do that. His thoughts wandered to Saki Ijiri and the NPA. And L. He wondered for a bit how they were doing. He thought ahead to his next kill and remembered he would have to decide who it would be. There were only two kills left, after all. He thought about how he finally knew what it was like to not know death was coming. He thought about how he would have to finish digging before those rainclouds came in. He thought about how the one he was Bonded to lie beneath the ground, cold, lifeless, and dead, dead, dead as a doornail.

Then his meandering ponderings were disrupted when his shovel hit something hard. His gaze went to the ground blankly. He blinked. The shovel was dropped as he knelt down to inspect the obstruction. His hand brushed away the dirt to reveal something light-colored. He blinked again. Used the shovel, wedging it between the object and the surrounding earth. Pushed the shovel to the side, thus loosening the object. Pulled it out to reveal a lonely skull.

He stared at it with dull eyes for a moment, blinked, then tossed it to the side before continuing his digging. It was probably a war victim. Or a murder victim he wasn't supposed to find. Oh well. As he dug, he ended up with the whole skeleton. How nice. The whole thing was discarded. He was actually almost irritated with the thing. It was in _Sophia's _resting place. Not only that, but it was slowing him down. But he guessed he couldn't blame it. Though, in the end, he didn't care anyway.

Beyond wasn't too sure how long he was digging, but he finished when the clouds at last blotted out the sun and the winds began to blow and the temperature began to drop. He reflected that a storm was kind of like death to the living. The light was gone, the world was cold, and of course there was the warmth that drained away from the body. Hm. Well, it was time to bury Sophia, in any case.

Beyond descended into their hideaway and went to Sophia's bed. He gazed at her peaceful face for a moment or two. Her ruby lips had turned blue. He wondered faintly what it felt like to actually die. Surely your soul wasn't trapped in your body like it had been in the In-Between. Sophia's features were too peaceful for that. He imagined that it was like letting go at last. And besides, if she had been in pain, wouldn't he feel it too, regardless of whether she was living or dead? He wondered if she felt torn in half like he did right now. He wondered, oh, he wondered. Was she wondering too? Did the Bond exist in death? He couldn't tell. He wasn't dead yet. But he would be. He'd find out then.

He scooped her up in his arms. His soul eased ever so slightly at her touch. It felt nice to hold her, even though she was cold, so cold, and lifeless as an inanimate object. He felt closer to her, somehow, and it was nice. It felt like he was in more familiar territory again. But then he reached the coffin, and he had to set her down. He almost regretted it, knowing he'd never feel her touch again; feel her little hand in his own. But he adjusted her anyway, with this knowledge, and made sure she looked comfortable. He draped her special blanket over her cold body, idly thinking that perhaps it would help keep her warm. On the inside, at least. Perhaps she could feel its warmth, wherever she was. He gripped her blue-ish, discolored hand one last time. Even though she was practically B's clone by mind, she was still only a child at heart. He felt slightly at peace for one final moment before he let go.

He closed the casket.

Beyond felt a little lonely again as he began to push the coffin towards the hole in the ground beneath the gloomy palette of grey known as the sky. He rounded the casket to make sure it didn't tip, somehow managing to lower it into the ground despite the fact he was straining his muscles and nearly getting his hand caught beneath the thing. He looked at it a moment once he was done. It was a rather shallow grave, but it would work. Funerals were only formalities anyway.

Without a word, he grabbed the shovel and began to bury the casket, with Sophia's body concealed inside. In patches the casket began to become hidden as B numbly dropped in one shovelful after another. The earth was filled again eventually and the only thing to mark Sophia's grave was the rectangle of upturned earth. Perhaps he'd create a marker just to remind him she was there. Not that he'd ever forget.

He leaned on the shovel, taking a deep breath. Well, that was done. He stared at the rectangle for awhile, fully aware that he'd never be truly at ease again. Not that it really mattered. But oh, he felt so empty. Even lonely. And he never felt lonely. And….

B was surrounded in light. He was no longer in front of Sophia's grave, he was no longer in Japan, he wasn't even on earth. He was nowhere. In-Between. And he was burning again. It was odd to actually _feel _something. This horrid burning, this fire that melted his flesh and shriveled his lungs, he embraced it fully despite the fact he could barely stand it. He wasn't sure how he made it to the In-Between without Sophia, and somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered if he'd be able to make it back. What could he do about it if he couldn't, though? He just stopped there, allowing the pain to sweep over him and the flames to roll over his body as it licked at nothing.

But as he let go, he felt the fire fading, the pain weakening, as he felt himself melting into the fabric of the In-Between. The voices wailing grew louder. Would he become one of them? Would he become one of the Lost? He saw the shadow of a boy with his blurred, red-hazed eyes. The boy had features, but no face. He was crying out. He wanted to get away, out of this place. Beyond looked up to his name and lifespan out of habit; he could barely see them in the red haze. His name was Maxwell Hartman. Max. The boy who was the reason the island Sophia came from was called '_Maxey Island_.' And here he was, Lost, stuck here forever.

Beyond's vision grew hazier as black rimmed his sight. He was melting away. His being began to fall away from him; he almost forgot who he was. He figured he should keep that, but it was so tempting to just let go…. It wasn't that he wanted to, really, it was just a natural thing for humans to lose themselves in this place. Of course, Beyond actually had the choice to stay or to leave. It was all about willpower, and his was slipping away….

Then he remembered L again. The fire and the pain burst back into being as Beyond cried out, his being grasped again and the Lost fading and returning to the red blur that they were trapped within. That Beyond had just got out of. And he burned again and he died again, without Sophia, and after an eternity it all stopped again and he was lying on the ground staring at the dark grey sky. The ground was damp, and it was raining. He didn't really care. He just lay there in the rain as the time ticked away, his clothes growing soaked and his body growing cold, cold as ice, cold as a killer's eyes, cold as Sophia, cold as the hand of Death.

* * *

"When do you think it'll stop raining?" asked Sierra as she peered out a broken window.

"It won't rain long," Mello replied as he shuffled through this abandoned place's things. "It'll pour for a bit, then it'll stop. It's just how it works."

"Oh, okay…. Have you found the rope yet?"

"No. I would _tell _you if I found it, don't you think?" he frowned.

"That makes sense."

He straightened up with an irritated sigh. "There's no rope here, anyway…. We'll check another place."

"Alright!" Sierra chirped, and they headed out. "You think we'll find it at the next place?" she asked, her arms crossed in front of her. She, unfortunately, did not have a jacket to keep her dry, but she really didn't mind.

"I hope so," he muttered. "I want to get back soon."

"Yeah…," Sierra agreed. "I'm kinda hungry, actually…." They had, after all, been unable to eat lunch as they scoured the area for rope. How hard could it be to find rope? Honestly. Both of them were getting irritated at this point. It didn't help that they could feel the other's irritation.

"Sorry." He shifted in pace, frowned, and began taking off his jacket.

"What are you doing?"

"It's raining," he replied, as if it were obvious.

"…So?"

"So, you don't have a jacket," he answered, holding it out to her.

"But I don't care about the rain," Sierra said, furrowing her brow.

"Just take it."

"I'm fine, though," she insisted.

"Just _take it_," Mello said with slight irritation, and draped it over her shoulders. She at first resisted but eventually just uncomfortably accepted it with the muttering of a thank you.

They continued on in silence, though the alleys would whistle with the wind and the cars would blare their horns, their windshield wipers swishing against the wet windshield. The next place to search was reached; an abandoned home. Mello and Sierra split up in hopes of finding the rope. At this point, they weren't very hopeful, but they were still thorough in their search. Sierra checked upstairs, and Mello checked downstairs. The upstairs still had a few items from the family that used to live there. She found forgotten teddy bears in a child's room. There were dusty books in what she assumed was the parent's room. But there wasn't any rope, not in the closet and not anywhere.

The last room seemed to be the room of a teenager. There was a nice bed that hadn't been used in years and faded patches on the wall where posters used to hang. But it was something else that caught her eye.

_I found some rope, _Mello thought to her.

_Okay, _she responded as she went forward. Before her, leaning against the wall, was an old guitar. She hesitated, then slowly lifted the instrument, brushing off the dust covering it. The corner of her mouth quirked upward for a moment. _I wonder if Mello will let me keep it…._ She gazed at it, a nostalgic and sad smile on her lips.

_Are you coming? _the chocoholic asked.

_Yeah, _she thought, walking out of the room with the guitar cradled in her arms. Mello was giving her an odd look when she came down the stairs. "I can keep this, right?" she asked hopefully.

He sighed lightly. "I don't see why not," he muttered, then turned to the door. "Ready to go back to the hideout?"

"Yep!" she yipped, running to catch up to him. Upon going outside, they discovered it was no longer raining. The clouds were now off to the southeast, the sky they left behind darkening.

"What exactly are you planning on doing with that, anyway?" Mello asked her, eyeing the guitar in her arms.

"Play it, obviously," she replied.

"You can play the guitar?" he asked dully.

"Yup!" she grinned. "Well, I can play a little, and I haven't played in years, but I still remember a few songs…."

"Huh."

"Yeah…." Her voice trailed off as her gaze went off into the past. Not-so-happy memories surfaced, but she tried to push them away. Mello shifted at the feeling of her unhappiness. Silence blanketed them again as they walked. It began to get dark, and as time passed, the emotions eased. For now.

They passed through another alley among the many they had travelled through and, to Sierra's surprise, she recognized a song playing in the place their left side (she wasn't quite sure what place it was). It was actually a band similar to Vocaloid; perhaps it was this was this world's version of it. It was because of this that Sierra took a liking to it in the first place. "Ooh!" she yelped. She set the guitar against the brick wall. "I know this song!"

"…Alright," Mello responded.

"C'mon, dance!" Sierra cried, grinning.

"No," he frowned.

"Oh, come _on_!" she insisted, and yanked on his wrist. He stumbled forward, the rope flopping to the ground. Sierra spun him around, laughing. "I'm not dancing alone, you wet towel!"

"I don't even know how!"

"So?" She laughed, and Mello grudgingly went along with it as the song played and resounded throughout the alley. And, as they danced and Sierra laughed and smiled, Mello found himself smiling ever so slightly along with her. "Oh my gob, a random guy just stared at us," she giggled.

"So?" Mello responded. "This was _your _idea!"

"True!"

They spun round and round and playfully tangoed like two good friends at a school dance, dancing to a fun, upbeat song. They pulled apart, both with a smile, then pulled together as the song ended. The smiles faded as they stared at one another, suddenly feeling awkward about the close contact. Sierra stepped back, and Mello broke the gaze. He coughed. "We should be getting back now."

"Yeah," she agreed, and they both picked up the rope and the guitar, respectively. "You were enjoying yourself, weren't you?"

"Of course not," he frowned. "I can't dance and… that was just stupid."

"Don't you lie to me, I saw that smile!" she teased.

"I wasn't smiling!"

"Yes you were," she sang, and they continued going on, back and forth, as they made their way back to Matt.

* * *

**Starts off sad, ends off sweet.**

**Hm. In any case, now we know what happens to people whose Bonds have broken. Ahh, BB's so amusing to me when he's out of it like that.**

**So.**

**You people wanted to meet Max.**

**Here he is.**

**Not really what you guys were expecting, but that's Max's introduction. At least he's coming back around? Aha.**

_**Fun Fact**_**: Takenaka reminds me of Slenderman, and I've no clue why.**

**Review? For dancing~~**


	21. Chapter 21

_**Mrs. Lawliet**_**: **Real-Life Sierra doesn't actually randomly dance all too often... but _Real-Life Anna does_. o3o Randomly dancing is always fun~ Ahh, poor, poor, B indeed.  
He was kinda like Slenderman, wasn't he? I still can't completely put my finger on why, though.  
...Sorry, Near, but I feel no sympathy for your loss of toys.

* * *

"You seem to be getting better," Ryuk remarked.

My smirk disappeared as I removed my gaze from the Death Note laid out on the desk before me. It had been dug up from Misa's hiding place awhile back, soon after her funeral. Now every Kira had their own note, which worked well. Poor Ryuk had no notebook, but oh well. I looked up at said shinigami. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I dunno, you just seemed off lately."

I frowned, my eyes narrowing. "And what do you mean by that? If you're talking about the night L drugged me, then that was because of the alcohol he fed me."

"No, you just seemed quieter for the longest time. Too submissive. That's all."

I gave a _heh._ "Well then, I'm sorry about that, Ryuk." I rolled my shoulders. "But you know, I _feel _better. Much better now. I guess my confidence took a dip for awhile. I'm not sure why." I looked to the notebook again, thinking about it a moment. I snapped my fingers in realization. "I've got it! It started back when I realized Light was stuck without his memories for good. I became too reliant."

"Huh," Ryuk remarked.

I chuckled. "It took the Bond long enough to cure that, didn't it?" I closed my eyes, leaning back against the desk. "Well, here we are now, at least."

"Yeah, um, speaking of which, we need apples."

I cocked an eyebrow. "You always tell me about how many apples Sierra keeps in her bag. Why don't you go ask her for some?"

"Oh, come on, you're closer," he complained.

I waved him off, turning away. "I'm not going to the store until tomorrow. I shop every Sunday, remember?"

His fingers twitched. His black hands looked as though they wanted to grab something that wasn't there. "But…."

I began walking towards the door of the attic. "I haven't bought apples lately because you've been with Sierra so often. You can't expect me to tell the future."

"You can tell when people die."

I smiled and turned to him. "That's different," I told him, and opened the door.

The shinigami floated down after me. "Well, you can still go shopping today, can't you?"

"I don't feel the need to, and I'm not making dinner tonight anyhow."

He sighed as I stepped out into the closet, knowing we couldn't continue our argument. "That's no fair…."

_Sure it is, Ryuk, _I thought in vague amusement. With that, I changed into my clothes for the day – Ryuk sorta flew outside the room to wait – and headed downstairs before putting my pajamas in the laundry room. I entered the kitchen afterwards to find Anna at the kitchen table, eating breakfast. "Morning," I greeted as I went to the counter to grab the cereal from the cupboard.

"Morning…," Anna responded. She swallowed the bit of powdered donut in her mouth. "Why don't you have donuts for breakfast anymore, Aunt Natalie?"

I shrugged as I set my bowl on the table and began pouring said cereal. "I kinda got sick of them after eating them every morning for a month or so."

"Aw." She looked down at her nearly-finished donut. "That's too bad." She popped the rest of it into her mouth.

"Is Sam still in bed, or has she left?"

Anna shook her head. "She didn't come home last night again."

"Oh…." I laughed a bit. "Well I guess L is cuddly."

Anna giggled. "I guess so."

Anna didn't go to SPK headquarters that day, and I in turn didn't go to my own workplace. We both stayed home and relaxed. Ryuk was bored, of course, but it wasn't like he could do much about it. He eventually left around noon, saying he was going to go to be with Sierra. He was muttering something about how she was more interesting as he left. Light arrived a few hours afterwards, at around four.

Anna looked at him confusedly. "What are you doing here?"

"Natalie and I will be going out for dinner later," Light explained.

Anna blinked. "Oh." She paused. "_Oh_." She grinned teasingly at me.

"Matsuda's coming too," I told her dully.

"…Oh."

Light chuckled as he joined me on the couch. Anna pulled up the chair from the corner. "You wanna play a game of Monopoly or something?" she asked.

"I don't see why not," he answered with a smile.

Anna grinned. "Okay!" She ran over to the bookshelf in the corner where the games were and brought out the Monopoly. "I call the dog."

Sam came home just as we finished getting the game ready. She entered, saw Light, and said thoughtfully, "I wonder, if I were to kick him in the family jewels, would you feel it too, Natalie?"

I winced. "Yes."

"We found that out when Anna kicked me," said Light, scratching the back of his head. He laughed weakly.

"I said I was sorry!" Anna snapped.

"Neither of us were reprimanding you for it," Light assured her.

"When'd this happen?" Sam asked amusedly.

"Back in late April or early May," I said with a shrug.

"Huh." She eyed Light. "And what is he doing here, anyway?"

"They're going to dinner with Matsuda, apparently," Anna informed her.

"What for?" Sam asked me.

I shrugged. "To get together. That's all."

"Can't we just play Monopoly now?" Anna huffed.

"Can I play?" asked Sam.

"Of course."

It would be awhile before Matsuda came to get Light and I, so we were able to play for a few hours before we had to leave. Anna would buy every property she could lay her hands on, of course, though because of it she nearly went bankrupt. There seemed to be some underlying battle as we played between Sam and I, but Matsuda came before the game could end anyhow. But of course he had. Monopoly, quite frankly, lasts forever. Who knows how long the game would have lasted if Light and I weren't to have gone out that night? After all, Anna, Sam, and I once held a game that lasted over a week….

But Matsuda _did _come, and so Light and I had to leave the game. Anna was disappointed. Poor Matsuda felt kinda bad, but Light and I only laughed and assured him it was fine. Anna was only being Anna as all. We all said our farewells, Matsuda apologizing to Sam and Anna for not having been able to bring them, too. Soon, though, the three of us were all heading down to Matsuda's car to be on our way. Light got shotgun, and I got the backseat. It was kinda weird how Matsuda had the car and we didn't, but we supposed it didn't matter in the long run.

"You guys really should get a driver's license. You should, at least, Light," said Matsuda. "What are you now, twenty-three?"

"Yeah," Light replied.

"And you're twenty-one, Natsumi," he said, and laughed slightly. "To think I met you when you were fifteen. It's so weird…. Time flies, doesn't it?"

"Yeah…," I agreed.

"Funny how everything happens so fast," he remarked. "I mean, it seems so slow going, and then you look back and wonder where all the time went."

"I guess the only the only thing you can do is savor the good moments and enjoy yourself," said Light.

"Yeah, I guess so." It didn't take long to get to the restaurant, or at least it didn't seem like it. It was up in Akasaka, which wasn't too far off…. Matsuda kept up the conversation while we drove, though, which was nice. Yes, it would be a pleasant night, with Matsuda and without the annoying Bond making me restless as a plus. Not that it had been bothering me today anyway.

Matsuda was taking us to a Swedish restaurant called Stockholm that was admittedly expensive (dinner on weekends was ¥4,179, or $53.30), but we had quite a bit of money left over from Misa's will…. We might as well make use of it, rather than let it sit there. (Compared to some restaurants, though, it was cheap, so….) Though, it seemed surreal that it had been a bit over a week since Misa had been killed. It seemed like it had happened just yesterday, yet at the same time it seemed like forever ago….

When we at last entered the restaurant, the wonderful scent of food filled our noses. "This place seems nice," Light commented.

"It is," Matsuda grinned. "The food is great, and there's lots to choose from."

"Huh," I remarked. We were soon led to our table by a nice man with barely any hair, and as I sat I realized this place was reminiscent of the Fieldstone, which I'd gone to with my grandparents many times. It wasn't so much how the place looked, but the feel that came with it. The tablecloths were dark blue, and I saw as we passed that the buffet was upon a glass counter. We didn't have to wait long before our waitress arrived.

She was wearing her uniform, of course, which consisted of a few shades of beige to go with the general colors of the restaurant. Her eyes were brown, as was her hair, which was pulled back into a messy bun with a pencil. Stray hair fell into her face. "Hello," she greeted, "I am Kamiko and I will be your waitress tonight." My eyes told me her full name was Kamiko Minami. "Do you know what you'd like to drink?"

"Mountain Dew?" I asked hopefully, and she marked it down on her notepad. Wow. They actually had it. Cool.

"Um… I'll have this aquavit," said Matsuda, pointing to one of the eight selections on the menu. Kamiko nodded.

"I suppose I'll just have water," Light smiled. The girl nodded again, then left.

"C'mon, Light," Matsuda chuckled, "have some fun for once."

Light only smiled at him. "I'm not the type for alcohol, and you know that."

"Well, one drink every once in awhile can't hurt," Matsuda chided, nudging him with his shoulder.

"No, thank you."

"Jeez, Light, what do you do for fun, anyhow?"

"Well, Matsuda, I haven't really had the time for fun the past few years," Light responded. His smile seemed slightly sad.

"Yeah, I guess that's true…. Then Kira came back and the Sinful Murder Cases came into play, and… Misa…."

"Yeah," I replied. "Lots of things have been happening."

"You know, though, you really need to loosen up," Matsuda told Light. "With all you've went through, and all of _that_, you should just have a night out to let loose and relax. Just you and me, what do you say?"

"Maybe, sometime," Light smiled. "Maybe."

"When he has time, of course," I added.

He giggle-laughed. "Oh, and don't worry, Natsumi, I won't steal him away from you for too long."

I frowned. "Feh."

Light laughed lightly. "I can assure you she's not the jealous type anyway."

"Well, you _would _know…." Matsuda sighed. "Plus, you've got that whole mind sync going on. It's so weird…."

"Yeah…," I agreed, eyeing the hand on top of mine. Well, we wouldn't be getting restless anytime soon.

Kamiko came back to our table with a tray of drinks and silverware, and began setting the glasses in their respective places. The girl wasn't very good with balance, however, and so as she tried to give Light his drink, it spilled onto Matsuda. He yelped. "I'm so sorry!" Kamiko exclaimed, hurriedly setting down the tray and grabbing a napkin to help dry his shirt.

Matsuda laughed weakly. "It's fine… just kinda cold…."

"I'm sorry; I'm so sorry," she mumbled.

I laughed. "It's fine, Miss Kamiko, he'll be fine."

She hesitated, then hastily began giving us our silverware. I thanked her, and she mumbled a little, 'You're welcome,' before finishing and grabbing the tray. Matsuda was still wiping at his shirt with a napkin as Kamiko began walking away, her head down. Something caught her eye, though, and her gaze seemed to examine Light's hand with interest.

"Yes?" Light asked politely.

She looked at his left hand – the one on mine – for a moment, and I shifted uncomfortably. Then she looked at our faces. Eventually, she went straight ahead and asked, "Are you guys dating, or brother and sister?"

We looked at one another, then back to her. Matsuda looked up, immediately brought back into the conversation. "Uh," I said.

"Dating, I'm sure," Light informed her.

Matsuda laughed. "They do kinda resemble each other, don't they?"

"Only the hair…," I mumbled.

"Oh," said Kamiko. She looked at our hands again. "How long have you been together?"

"About three months," Light answered.

"Why?" I asked.

"I dunno," Kamiko replied, "it's just… you seem so close, like…." She shifted on her feet. "You seem like you've been together longer than that. Like you're really comfortable together, and you completely understand each other." She shook her head. "I dunno. Never mind. Um… are any of you ready to take your order?"

"We're all getting the buffet," Light informed her.

"Oh, alright… thank you." She looked to Matsuda. "I'm sorry again for the spill." Then, to Light, she added, "I'll bring you another glass of water."

"Thank you."

"Oh, yeah, cool!" Matsuda exclaimed after Kamiko had left and he began better examining the silverware that had been given to us. "We even get napkin rings!"

"Fancy," I grinned. I would have used a British accent if I had actually been speaking in English. Unfortunately, though, I was speaking Japanese, so it couldn't really be done. Meh. Oh well.

"Well," said Matsuda, "we can actually go and get our food right away." He stood, we followed, and we got our food. Matsuda got the ribs, Light got smoked salmon, and I got some Swedish meatballs along with these little fried hot dog sausages that amused me greatly. "Remember to save room for dessert," Matsuda reminded us happily.

"Mmm," I hummed at the thought. "What do they have?"

He shrugged. "You'll have to see for yourself when it's time for it."

"I guess so."

Kamiko came back soon to give Light his drink, and she left letting us know that she would be back in a bit to check on us. "These ribs are amazing!" Matsuda yelped delightedly. "How's your guyses food?"

"Delicious," I responded, actually happy with my meal. And I'm a picky person.

"Good," said Light. "I'd come here again for sure."

"You know," said Matsuda, "we're actually supposed to eat the food in courses, kinda, but I forgot how it went…. But, with the buffet, we don't have to do that, which is nice." He laughed a bit.

"Is it a Swedish custom or something?" I asked.

"Yep." He stuck some rib in his mouth. "So anyway, how've you guys been doing? You know, since you're not on the Sinful Murder Cases anymore?"

"Well, I've gotten better aim," I grinned, jutting my thumb at my chest.

"I've just been doing my usual job back in the Intelligence and Information Bureau," Light shrugged. "Both of us have gotten a lot of Misa's things sorted out with all the time we have, though, which is good."

Matsuda nodded. "Yeah, well, that _is _good…. I still think you two should be back on the case, though. The team isn't the same without you, and besides… we aren't really getting anywhere."

"I thought L was working with you," said Light, and took a sip of his water.

"Yeah, he is," Matsuda confirmed, "but so far he hasn't given us his deductions or whatever. We just give him the information." He sighed. "It's kinda stupid."

"He probably has good reason," I assured him. "…Probably."

He frowned. "Well, at least he isn't like Near. I still don't like him very much. I mean, yeah, he's smart and all, but he's just irritating. And rude. Not to mention he won't let any of the old task force on the Kira case." He huffed.

"I kinda agree with some of that," I admitted sheepishly, "but he is working to help everyone."

"Yeah, I guess…," he mumbled. There was a pause as we ate. "Hmm," Matsuda hummed eventually. "It's gonna be rainy the next few days…. I'm kinda disappointed…."

"I like the rain," I shrugged.

"But it can be inconvenient when walking places," Light added.

"Yeah, well, I know it rained yesterday," Matsuda said thoughtfully. "And the clouds in the sky today make it seem like it'll rain soon. I dunno. The weather said it'd rain earlier, but it didn't."

"Huh," I remarked. I pursed my lips. "I hope Sierra wasn't caught in the rain, wherever she is."

"Oh, yeah…."

"But then," said Light, "Mello would most likely find a suitable shelter."

"True," Matsuda conceded. "Well, that's good…."

We eventually finished our meals and, as we had a bit of room left, we headed back to the buffet for dessert: Matsuda got a bowl of apple pudding while Light and I got the rice pudding with cinnamon powder. Huh. Pudding. Light typically had the smallest portion. As we sat down to eat our desserts, I decided to actually use my napkin before I started on the sweet treat. (It was nice; I hadn't had rice pudding in ten years. …Saying it like that makes feel old.)

"Boop," I said as I slid off the napkin ring. Too fast. It fell with a _clink _to the floor. I frowned at it. "Meh." I was about to lean down to grab it, but stopped in knowing Light intended to get it himself. Matsuda leaned forward as Light knelt down to grab it, trying to figure out what was going on. Poor Matsuda. He's always confused. See, he wasn't an idiot… he was just easily confused. Yeah.

Well, Light tried it hand it to me, but at that moment our waitress Kamiko came back to check on us like she had promised. She dropped her tray, capturing our attention, and squealed in utter joy. "Oh my god!" she cried. "You're getting _married_?!"

Light and I looked to one another, then back to Kamiko. "Ah—" was all I got out.

Matsuda was laughing.

"Ah—um, uh, no," I stuttered.

Light realized his position – ah, so it looked like he was proposing, how nice – and laughed lightly as he set the napkin ring on the table. "Sorry, Miss Kamiko, but that's not happening quite yet. I was just giving her her napkin ring, that's all."

"O-oh…," Kamiko answered dumbly, slumping forward. "Um, sorry…." She picked up her tray from the ground. "I'm an idiot."

Matsuda was still laughing.

"It… it's fine," I told her.

There was an awkward pause, Matsuda still laughing. "So… how is your food?"

Matsuda forced himself to stop and breathe, and all of us told her we were enjoying ourselves. We thanked her again, and she gave us the check for when we were ready. Well then. That was unexpected. It was odd, neither of us had even considered that. It had never come to mind, really. In any case, now that it had been brought up, the idea made me a bit warm. Luckily, there was always that anti-blush mechanism….

Light glanced at me as he put his glass to his lips. "Natalie, you're blushing," he informed me, and took a sip of his drink.

"Sh…shut up…."

Matsuda was laughing again.

What a dinner.

* * *

**Yay fluff? .-.**

**_Fun Fact_: The four of us (Real-Life Sierra, Real-Life Anna, Real-Life Sam, and I) once watched a short play. The main male character they named to be Light, and at the end of the play something very similar to that little napkin ring scene happened. Real-Life Sam and Real-Life Sierra asked for it to happen in here.  
And that's how that restaurant scene came to be.**

**Review? For napkin rings? :3**


	22. Chapter 22

_**Mrs. Lawliet**_**: **He has, hasn't he? Tsk, tsk... Ahh, glad you like the dinner scene~ Part Swedish, eh? You've only tried...Swedish food once before? Hm. Do you remember what it was, or just that it was Swedish? I know I'm bad at remembering stuff like that.

**...Okay. So.**

_**WARNING**_**: This chapter includes suicidal themes and an overall depressing feel.**

**I'm sorry.**

**I told you I'd warn you...**

**Ah, I hope you like the chapter anyway?**

* * *

Well, later on the night of the dinner, Matt was lounging in the old main room with all of the huge computers. He had yet to fix the surveillance system, but he was working on it. He was currently playing a video game, but he'd get around to it eventually. Mello would nag at him to do it soon enough, and Matt would have to do it then. An angry Mello was not a fun Mello.

Speaking of Mello, he'd been with Matt an hour or so ago. Where'd he go? He'd just left without a word, though Matt thought he remembered glancing up at his friend to see he didn't look very happy. Almost sad. And he was never sad. He looked uncomfortable too. About what, Matt couldn't know. Well, _something _was up. As Mello's best friend, he should know these things. Right? And the only person other than Mello himself who knew what was going on in his head was Sierra.

Matt clicked one last button before he shut off his game and leaned back on the couch, lifting the cigarette from his mouth. He breathed out a stream of smoke, then smothered the cig in an ashtray beside him. Well, he guessed he'd be looking for Sierra then. If he bumped into Mello on the way, great. If not, fine. Now to figure out where Sierra was. Probably in her room. Obviously. She'd picked the first room on the left up on the sixth floor. She'd said it was the room she and the other three girls had stayed in back in 2004. 2004. The year L supposedly died. The year Mello left Wammy's. To be precise, he'd left December fifth.

Eh, that didn't matter now. Matt went to the elevator and pressed the button to go to the sixth floor. He leaned against the elevator wall as he waited, but it didn't take long. He was soon walking out into the hall and heading to the first room on the left. He paused as he reached the door, though. He heard music.

It wasn't necessarily a song. Rather, it was a string of wonderful notes on a guitar put together that would last a second or two, then stop with a, "_No_," or a "_Damn it_," from Sierra. Again, the string of notes would play, but it would always be cut short and punctuated with a frustrated remark from the girl playing the guitar. Matt slowly opened the door. He saw Sierra sitting cross-legged on the floor, her back facing him, with the guitar strap around her shoulders. She tried playing the notes again. "No, no, _no!_" she hissed. Ryuk was loitering around in the background, already asleep. Lazy ass.

Sierra didn't notice Matt yet, and so he rapped three times on the door to grab her attention. Her head whipped around to face him, her expression a look of surprise. Her cheeks were streaked with tears; her eyes were bloodshot. Matt blinked. Oh. Mello wasn't the one not feeling great, it was Sierra. She immediately turned back around. "_Shit_," she muttered, her hands going to her face as she tried to rub the tears away.

"Uh, hey," Matt greeted hesitantly. He took a half-step into the room.

"Um, yeah? What is it?" Her voice cracked.

"Well," Matt responded casually, "I saw Mello looked a little upset earlier, and I wanted to figure out why."

There was silence. Her voice was small. "I'm sorry."

He blinked again. "What? Why?"

"My stupid emotions are probably affecting him again, that's all…."

He frowned, then made his way over to her. "Am I allowed to ask what's the matter?" he asked, crouching beside her.

She was silent a moment. Considering it. "Well, I _do _think of you like an older brother…." Her breathing hitched.

Matt almost opened his mouth to ask what she considered Mello to be, but he wisely held his tongue in knowing teasing wasn't the best thing to do at the moment. It just wasn't the right thing to say. So he kept quiet and let her speak. It was time to make her feel a bit happier. He didn't like it when she was sad.

"Well…." She pulled off the guitar strap and set the guitar in front of her, pulling her knees up to her chest. Matt actually sat down and got comfortable, leaning back on the palms of his hands. "I had a friend, back in my world, and his name was Mark. He was more of my dad's friend, but we were still pretty close…." She sniffed, then choked out a little laugh. "The first time I met him, he almost hit me in his car. I was just being stupid and going into the road on my bike. That's how we became friends. Mark was the one who taught me guitar…."

Matt only sat silently beside her, listening.

"Well… the last time I saw him, he was trying to teach me a new song. He said he'd help me learn the difficult part next time because I was having trouble with it, but…." She looked at the guitar with sad, sad eyes. "He committed suicide before we could see each other again. He shot himself in the chest, and wouldn't die until two days later." She curled up tighter, clutching her legs until her knuckles went white. "I don't know why I didn't see the signs." Her voice cracked again. "His girlfriend had just died, and there was something about him the last time we met…. I should have noticed…. I knew him well enough, I should have; I—" Sierra was cut off by her own choked sob. She broke into tears, even though she was trying so, so hard not to cry. To cry was to be weak, after all.

Not knowing what else to do, Matt put his hand on her shoulder. He almost spoke again, but he couldn't bring himself to say it.

"You're like my older brother," she said. "You know that, right?"

"Yeah," Matt responded. "And I guess you're kinda like the sister I never had."

A tear fell. Sierra wiped it away hastily. "I do miss my brothers, Wayne and CJ, but…. Wayne was a poor excuse for an older brother, he really was. And he was such a wimp…. He'd always be such a tattletale and a suck-up, too, but I loved him anyway, even though Mom loved him best and ignored me because of it. And CJ, my little brother…. Oh, I miss them both…. I hate my mom so much, and I hate to admit it, but I love her too…. Plus, there's _Tony_," she spat his name with incredible hatred and disgust that Matt wasn't so sure she'd been capable of. But her voice got softer in her next words. "Why… why do all the worst things happen to the people who don't deserve it?"

He frowned ever so slightly, then turned his gaze in the direction of the wall. "I really don't know," he said honestly.

"But I've killed now…. I'm a killer, you know…. At first I felt good about killing people like Tony, but…." Sierra stopped there. She didn't finish the sentence. "Matt…" she said in a voice that was so soft he could barely hear her, "…I don't know… how much more I can take…."

He blinked, then looked down at her. She was silent. "Well…" he said eventually, "it'll all be okay in the end, right?"

She was silent for a second, but then she looked up at him with this nice smile that didn't look quite true. "Yeah," she said, "I guess your right."

"And you know Mello and I are here," he added.

"Yeah. And I'm glad for that."

"And… you can talk to someone if something's up, you know that, alright?"

She nodded. There was a pause. "Well, I think I'll be going to bed now…," Sierra sighed, getting to her feet. She waved Matt off. "Now go away, I'm going to get into my pajamas."

Matt stood, scratching his head. "Alright. Goodnight, then, Sierra…. I'll see you in the morning."

"Yeah," she replied, taking out her pajamas from her dresser.

Matt looked back at her one last time to be sure, and left out the door, closing it with a soft _click _behind him. Directly to his right, he saw Mello there, leaning against the wall with a chocolate bar to his lips. There was silence for a moment. "Keep a close eye on her, okay?" he asked Matt without even looking at him, and walked away, taking the stairs rather than the elevator to his destination.

* * *

When Sierra awoke it was raining. As her senses came to her, the first thing she heard was the rain on the windowpane. So, she rolled over in her bed and opened her eyes to stare at the wall of windows. It was a sheet of grey, running with water. She remembered the last time she'd been here while it rained. It had been thundering and lightning and Sam was afraid because she hated the thunder. Anna had been teasing her about it because she was younger than Sam and of course _she_ wasn't afraid. But then the thunder crashed and Anna jumped. Sierra had laughed. Anna had whacked her.

Anna and Sam weren't here now, and neither was I. Her sister. Her aunt. Her friend. All good friends in our own right, really. But Sierra had been supposedly kidnapped again, and we moved on with life without her. What did it matter where she was? It didn't change much, did it? What purpose did she serve anymore, anyhow? She couldn't act as Kira because Mello had found out about the notebook. She couldn't act as an older sister or a friend because she wasn't with Anna, Sam, and I. Matt and Mello didn't need help in what they were doing….

Sierra sat up. Whatever. She swung her legs over the side of the bed, and got to her feet. Noticed Ryuk wasn't there. She got dressed, brushed her hair, made herself relatively presentable. Not that she cared very much. Oh well. It wouldn't really matter. She headed out of her room and right to the elevator, pressing the button that would lead her to the roof. She waited as the small space she was in rose up and up. When she stepped onto the highest level with the helicopter pads behind her and the cityscape before her, she felt like she was in that scene with L, out on the top of this building in the rain. But instead of just standing there, staring at the sky and speaking of nonexistent bells, she sat on the roof and let herself be soaked, her knees pulled to her chin. She didn't move; she just thought. The wind up at this height was cold with the rain, and the rainwater soaked her to the bone, but she didn't mind. She didn't mind at all.

Eventually Mello came out to see her. He walked up behind her, and she knew it, but she didn't respond and so he didn't say a word. Just sat there beside her in the rain with one leg bent and the other spread out, a chocolate bar in his hand.

"Déjà vu," she said aloud, her voice nearly lost in the rain and the wind.

"Hm?" he replied. It was more a grunt than anything, but he always did that because he was plainly _Mello_. And Mello was typically grumpy.

"It's like the scene in the rain with Light and L all over again. L goes out into the rain, just for the rain, to think, and Light comes out to see him. Makes sure he's alright. But of course he doesn't care…."

"I care," Mello frowned.

"For L?"

"…For you." He scowled. "L irritates me at the moment, remember?"

"Right…." She paused. "Sorry."

"Don't be. Stop it with the sorry, okay? Don't apologize to me."

"…I… never mind." Another pause. The rain began to lessen. "Mello, can I have a hug? I know you hate them, but just this once? Please?"

He looked at her for a second. She didn't look back. He looked away. "…Sure."

She blinked twice, her eyes downcast, and then she turned to hug him. Mello gave an awkward little half-hug back, his expression uncomfortable. Sierra clung to him for a moment, but she didn't stay long, and released him. From there on it was utterly silent save for the hiss of the rain and the howling of the wind and the faint city sounds far below.

Matt came next, wondering where his friends had went. By then the rain had stopped and the sky was just an endless expanse of grey. "There you guys are," he said light-heartedly. "Where've you been?"

Mello got to his feet. "Up here, obviously."

"Well, yeah…. How long have you been up here?"

"Since I woke up," Sierra said in a quiet voice.

"What? No breakfast? Come on…. It's lunchtime already, aren't you hungry?"

"Not really."

"You're at least going to eat lunch," said Mello matter-of-factly. "If you're not eating breakfast, then you have to have lunch and dinner. Got it?"

"…Okay…."

"Matt, I'm going back inside to dry off," he told his friend, and walked back inside.

Matt blinked. "Why am I always the one that has to feed her…?" He went over to Sierra. "Alright," he said, "so what do you want for lunch?"

"I don't care."

"…Well, I'm not deciding for you."

She sighed softly. "A sandwich, I guess."

Matt frowned. "What _kind _of sandwich, Sierra? Be a little more specific, okay?"

"Peanut butter… only one slice."

"Alright then." He stretched. "I'll be right back. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

"Bye, Matt," she said softly, and Matt chuckled with an, "I'll be right back." Sierra leaned back and stared at the clouds. "The world doesn't look very welcoming right now, does it…?" she asked no one. She felt all of the pressure on her get heavier in knowing the world wasn't the best place to be. The loss of her brothers. Missing her friends. The hatred of Tony. The lack of love from her own mother. The regret of knowing a friend who'd killed himself. The scars of abuse and neglect. The guilt of having killed multiple people. It all kept coming back around.

Life sucked, didn't it? She was tired of it. She was tired of not being able to trust. She was tired of giving up hope because whenever she found it, it would always fail her. She was tired of the burning hatred that did nothing in the end. She was tired of all the stress and the pain. She was just so sick and tired of it all. She didn't want to carry the burden anymore, and now all of it was crashing down on her at once…

She got to her feet, staring out beyond the edge of the roof. Took a step forward. Hesitated. Then, she began to walk, step by step, towards the edge. She paused at the railing, running her hand on the cool metal surface. Her clothes flapped in the wind, her hair flying behind her. She stepped over the railing. Mello, her mind sync, had noticed by now. He was uttering a string of curse words as he ran up the stairs, but Sierra was on the other side now and everything before her was open air. She leaned forward, her hands gripping the railing behind her. All she had to do was let go, and she'd be free. She'd cease to exist. No more pain, no more pressure, no more hatred, no more bittersweet humanity. Her grip began to loosen. Let go, she just had to let go…. She closed her eyes, breathed in a deep breath, and—

"Hey, I've got your lunch," said Matt.

Sierra's eyes opened. She looked back to him. He was looking at her through those orange-tinted goggles of his, a plate of lunch on his hand. In his other hand was his own lunch. He casually set her lunch on the ground, then set his down before sitting.

"Are you going to be eating with me or not?" he asked. "You wouldn't want a sandwich to go to waste." He sounded so calm.

Sierra looked before her again and saw just how far down the city below was. Release beckoned her, but so did a friendly face. She looked back to Matt; he'd begun to eat. As if he didn't mind that she was just about to commit suicide right in front of him. She looked back to the open air before her. It didn't seem quite right now that Matt was waiting behind her. Carefully, she stepped back over the railing. Mello reached the top floor at that moment, but he stood on the other side of the door, his back to the exit, breathing deep breaths. _Don't you dare do that again…._

…_Sorry…. _She sat in front of her meal and stared at the sandwich. She picked up the bread slowly and took a small bite. The taste flooded her mouth despite the bite's small size, though it didn't really appeal to her.

"So, why was it again that you never have jelly on your sandwich?" Matt asked her.

Sierra was slightly confused as to why he was completely ignoring what just happened, but that was okay. She was perfectly fine with not being asked about it, or scolded for it, or whatever Matt would do. "I just prefer peanut butter, I guess," she replied, her voice still small.

"Hm. Like good old Melly prefers chocolate, but… that's a little different."

She smiled ever so slightly. "Yeah. A lot different."

"But what were your favorite foods?"

"Chocolate and tea."

"Tea isn't really a food," Matt pointed out.

"Whatever. _Edible things_, then."

"I guess…." He paused. There was silence. Sierra looked up to see his head was down. He wasn't eating. "Hey, Sierra…," he said in a low voice.

She blinked slowly. "…Yeah?"

"Don't… do that again, alright? Please."

Her gaze shifted to the ground. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"Ah, shit," he muttered, lifting his goggles and rubbing what was assumed to be his eyes. "Ah… don't be sorry, Sierra… just… don't…." He heaved a sigh. "My…. The last time I…."

Sierra gazed at him, feeling that she would be curious if she had really cared at the moment. "What?"

He shook his head, then took a breath as if to brace himself. "My mother decided to jump off a roof, too. I walked into her room to find her on the railing of the balcony, ready to jump. But I couldn't save her…."

"I… I'm sorry," she mumbled, looking back to the ground.

"God damn it, Sierra, I told you not to be sorry about it." He sighed lightly. "Just remember, from here on, that Mello and I don't want you leaving this world anytime soon. Don't think you're useless or any crap like that, and don't let everything that's happened or is happening overwhelm you, that's all. Remember you can always talk, 'cause a lot of us learned the hard way that keeping everything to yourself is always the worst. And even if you don't want to talk to grumpy old Mello, you always have me, alright?"

She continued gazing at the ground, speaking in a mumbling tone. "Alright." There was a pause in which a fitting silence filled the air. Eventually the city sounds below eased their way into the quiet, though Sierra didn't mind their company. "Can I ask why you care?"

Matt stopped chewing and looked at her oddly. "Huh?" he asked, his mouth full of sandwich. He swallowed. "Care about one of my only two friends deciding to just jump off a building and end their life just like that?"

She crossed her arms guiltily.

He looked to the grey slate above called the sky. "I guess I still kinda regret last time, too. The one thing I regret is being too late for everything. For that; for other things…. Plus, I really don't care much about very many things in this world. I care about my games, but those can be replaced. I care about Mello, 'cause he's my best friend. And… I care about you because you're like… you're almost like a little sister that I never had. I don't care for reality much, you know. You know that. I don't even like going outside much anymore…."

"Anymore?"

"Never mind that, just know I care about you, among all of the things in the world I don't give a shit about. 'Kay?" He took a large bite of his sandwich.

The corner of her mouth twitched upward for a moment. "Okay."

* * *

**That whole scene...it's just terrible... Ahh, at least there's that hope at the end, though. Matt is wonderful.**

_**Not-So-Fun**_** _Fact_: That story about 'Mark' (not his real name) is completely true. It's terrible, but Sierra really has gone through a lot...**

**Review?...For...hope. Hope is nice.**


	23. Chapter 23

_**Mrs. Lawliet**_**: **One must love Matt here; honestly... Ahh... If I could, I'd send him over for them, dear.  
Also, I'm sorry for making you cry... *hands tissue* Ehh...

_**WARNING**_**: This chapter contains child abuse.**

**...At least it's less depressing, I think. Right?**

* * *

It didn't take much longer for Matt and Sierra to finish their lunches. The clouds continued looming in the sky, but it didn't matter so much because as soon as they were both finished they went inside. Matt had Sierra help him try to fix up the surveillance system, and Mello disappeared until later on. The chocoholic even stuck around for dinner with the other two, miraculously trying a small bit of chicken. He didn't enjoy it very much, and after that decided not to have anything else they were eating that night.

Sierra was the first to go to bed, leaving Matt and Mello behind. Things got even quieter after that, and the two friends didn't talk much. Eventually, Mello went off to his own chosen room. All three of their rooms were on the same floor, in case, I don't know, one of them woke up to discover their arm was bleeding profusely. It was just so they were all together, really. While Sierra's room was the first room on the left on the sixth floor, Mello's was the second room on the left. (There were really only two rooms on each side, anyway….) For a while, he sat in the alcove in his wall, gazing out the window as he ate his chocolate. The moon that hung above the city lights was ever so slightly more than half.

Mello didn't necessarily look at anything in particular out the window. His gaze was pensive and far-off. At first he was just thinking about Sierra. After all, she'd nearly committed suicide just earlier that day. He could feel how it felt to want to let go, and to be honest, he hated the feeling. He'd rather grab hold so tight that he had control of it all. Like that could happen…. Then he reminded himself that he had the Death Note now, and that would make everything all the easier. The corners of his mouth upturned. Yes, he had the Death Note now, and no one could get in his way anymore after this…. Sierra's aunt, me, would be kidnapped on Wednesday, and everything would go smoothly from there.

His thoughts turned to his past. He had bits and pieces of it now, but he'd been only two when everything fell apart, so it was all vague and obscure. He remembered a sibling. He remembered the house he lived in; a large manor, cream paint with golden trim. He remembered the dining table he used to sneak under – he forgot why. He remembered his mother's sharp, cold, blue eyes. He remembered how her wrists would clink with the jewelry that adorned them. He remembered the anger and frustration that existed in him even then. He remembered fire…. Darkness.

Eventually Mello pulled himself out of his thoughts and stood. He walked over to his bed, throwing the chocolate wrapper into the trashcan beside it. Then, he lay there staring at the ceiling as he allowed slumber to slowly blanket his senses. He was sent into darkness, and in this darkness he had a dream.

_It was a void of white. At first, Mello was confused. He was disoriented, for after all, there was nothing to see but white. White, white, white. Then he remembered where he was, and stiffened. The last time he'd been here was after he'd been shot, and he'd been unresponsive for awhile after. It had gotten him imprisoned, though that L-like guy who claimed to be 'the phoenix' had helped him out of that one. Whatever. Now he knew he was in Sierra's subconscious again. Last time he'd appeared here, he'd found her standing there reaching up at nothing. Then she'd seen him out of the corner of her eye, slowly looked at him from what would be the sky, lowering her arm as she did so. She stepped forward, and they talked. Somewhere along the way, Sierra was able to show him every piece of her past: her brothers, her mother, the many houses she lived in at one point, the woods she played in, Tony…._

_This time, he guessed, would be different. Mello began making his way forward, keeping an eye out for Sierra. It took a minute or so before he saw her standing there in the distance. He directed his course to her upon seeing her at last, and as he neared his mind sync he found that her fists were clenched. Her eyes were angry. Hello, Sierra's real personality. "There you are," was his oh-so-pleasant greeting._

_She frowned. "Yeah, well, I'm here, like always. Where else would I be?"_

_He frowned back. "I don't know if you noticed, but it takes awhile to find you in this place. There isn't exactly a point of reference."_

"_Tch," she responded irritably. "You should know you just have to keep walking forward."_

_Mello pulled his lips into a thin line. He'd figured there was actually a specific place she was, not that she'd always somehow be in front of him somewhere._

_She sensed this, and smiled. Laughed. "Okay, okay, wow, Mello the genius didn't get that?" She continued laughing. "I'm sorry, just—ha!" Yep. Real personality: a more cheerful Mello. That hyper, slightly annoying bit was all just a mask. "So what do you want?"_

_Mello faltered. What did he want? He just appeared here, it wasn't like he had any specific reason to come. He thought he kinda had to, unless he wanted to just sit there in the white until he woke up._

"_He has a point," a soft voice came through the silence._

_Mello blinked. He circled around Sierra to find that there was another her, sitting with her back to the standing Sierra's legs with her knees pulled up to her chin. "There are two of you?" he asked dully._

"_No," the standing Sierra said, crossing her arms. "We're the same person, smart one. Sierra, Sierra. There's not much difference. _I_ just happen to be the one that stands up in this sucky place while _she_ – which is still me, but whatever – just sits there."_

_The sitting Sierra looked up at Mello. "Isn't it hard to stand?" she asked him. "It is for me."_

"_So?" the standing Sierra said with clenched teeth._

_Mello crouched in front of the sitting Sierra. "Well why don't you try it? It's better to give something your all than not try." He scowled. "I'm not one for giving up on anything."_

"_I used to try. Don't you remember? Last time, I was standing too. But then It started tearing us apart, and it was harder to stand. I mean, it was already hard what with everything hitting me and pressing down on me, but…."_

"_What do you mean by _It_?" Mello asked, slightly irritable._

"_The ability to kill," said the standing Sierra. "I'm the one that wants people like _Tony _to die," she spat. "And they should!"_

"_Well, that doesn't mean you can sit down just like that," Mello frowned. "You're supposed to go strong no matter what!"_

"_Sorry…," the sitting Sierra murmured, her gaze shifting to what could be called the ground._

_Mello looked to what would be the sky, fighting the urge to sigh. He looked back to her and stood. He held out his hand. "Let me help you up," he said._

_She looked up at him. "I learned the hard way that hope only gives way to despair. I've learned that hope isn't worth it," she said._

_Mello frowned. "If you don't hope for something, there's no point in life! You can't go forward without it, not in a fulfilling way, anyway. I have never won once in my life, but I still strive to that goal. Why? I hope one day I can attain my wish to be number one, and without that hope I'd be giving up! So learn to hope again, okay? _Right now._ And if you won't hope for yourself, hope for me, because if you won't hope then I'll hope for you!"_

_She stared at him. Eyed his hand. "I also learned never to trust anyone, because they always let you down…," she said softly._

"_What the hell?!" he snapped. Mello looked her straight in the eyes. "You can trust me. _You know me_. Our thoughts and views are tied. I _understand_ you. If you can trust anyone, you know it can be me."_

_The sitting Sierra stared at him and then his hand again for awhile. Whispers wafted around them like sad yet friendly ghosts that hovered within the silence that ruled this place. Mello didn't dare move; he only waited. He was more patient than he'd ever been in his life. It was odd. Normally, someone like this wouldn't be helped by Mello. Mello would see them give up and he would mark them off as weak. But he knew Sierra wasn't weak, and he didn't want to see her fall. He wanted to reach the top, and he wanted to take her with him._

_She took his hand._

_The image of the other Sierra flickered and disappeared, like it was only a hologram and the light had been switched off. The Sierra before him had sad, sad eyes, but she was smiling at him. A real smile, he was sure. And as he held her hand and she held his, the whispers curled around him and he found himself smiling ever so slightly back. "Thank you," she said, her voice soft. Then she frowned, pulling her hand away and crossing her arms. "Okay, no more creepy hand-holding."_

_Mello laughed. Actually laughed._

"_Shut up!" she snapped. Back to herself. "Look, you want to know your past, don't you?" Complete subject change right there._

_He stopped laughing. What? "Of course I want to know." He scowled. "It doesn't matter if it's good or not; it's who I am. I just can't remember…."_

"_Do you want to remember?" she asked softly, uncrossing her arms. "This is probably why you came here…. Our minds are in sync, I'm sure I can unlock memories…."_

_He looked at her a second. Could that really happen? Ah, she was from a different world, why did any of this surprise him anymore? "Yes," he said._

_She smiled slightly. "Well, c'mere."_

_He bent forward, and they touched foreheads. He didn't see why this was necessary, but then just figured it was because he was in her subconscious and all that. They closed their eyes, and suddenly it was all black. Flashes of color. Backwards in time as Sierra sifted through his mind and into his memories, trying to find the hidden things in the back.. The day he got his scar. The day he joined the mafia. The day he left Wammy's. The day Near had nearly gotten trampled by all of the kids, and Mello had laughed. The day he and Matt chased after the birds that landed on the lawn, shouting at them to stay so they could catch them. The day he first met Matt. The day he went to Wammy's. The day Watari came for him. The day he woke up in the hospital, wondering why he no longer had anyone to call a family…._

_The beginning._

_He lived on a manor with his parents and his one older brother. His brother was named Felix, after his father. His mother's name was Almira, though she would remind Mello every so often that she was to be called _'Mother' _out of respect. Even though Mello couldn't quite talk yet anyway. They lived in England, though his father's father was German. His mother was born in Croatia, but had moved to England earlier in life. His father, Felix Kheel, was rich and provided most for the family, in the beginning. But as the once-poor Almira went up in promotions, Felix fell down and down…._

_But that's a different story that Mello could only understand now._

_He never really saw his father. He was always in his and Mello's mother's room, though he heard him up at night, talking or laughing. Whenever he did see his father, he was always drinking a bottle of something that Mello couldn't identify. One day he pointed up at it as if to ask what it was, and his father smiled and gave it to him before walking away, probably to get more. He'd stared at the drink for a moment, then guzzled it like he would milk from a bottle. All that can be said is that he slept the rest of the day away, and threw up when he finally awoke._

_His mother yelled at him, which only gave him a headache. She raised her voice, looking down upon him as if he were scum, telling him that he should better live by his brother's example. Mello had only yelled back, but at that age he could only yell "Daddy had it! Daddy had it!" and "I'm not sorry!" 'I'm not sorry'… possibly Mello's three favorite words at the time, though this was the first time he'd said them aloud. At those words, though, she gasped as if he'd uttered a swearword in church and slapped him square in the face. "You _should _be sorry," she said sternly, and stalked away, locking him in his small room._

_Yes, his mother seemed to be the violent one, while his father was the uncaring drunk. His father would get demotions and eventually lose his job, thus getting more drunk and more withdrawn. This, in turn, would make his wealthy mother feel lonely and frustrated and angry, thus taking it out on Mello whenever she found an excuse. She never did it to Felix. Maybe it was because he had his father's name, Mello didn't know, but no matter what he did he never seemed to reach his mother's standards. This only made him angry._

_Damn. Even as a little kid he was always number two._

_His brother could be mean sometimes, too, though. He would steal his chocolate and hold it where Mello couldn't reach, or put the blame on Mello just so he wouldn't take the hit. Like Mother would ever hit Felix anyway. She only seemed to like hurting Mello. Mello, Mello, Mello. What did Felix get? A hug. A ruffling of the hair. A kiss on the forehead. Mello didn't understand why. Felix had dark hair. Maybe that was it. He looked more like Daddy than Mommy, and Mommy _did _so love their father. But he never gave her the love she wanted. Too bad. Mommy, on the other hand, had short blond hair that looked much like Mello's hair had back at Wammy's and into his days in the mafia. Oh, the irony. Mommy always kept Mello's hair cut nice and short, though, not even giving it the chance to grow out. Maybe that was why he felt the need to grow it out the moment she was gone: rebellion._

_The only good people Mello knew of were the butler and maid that snuck him sweets. He liked the chocolate best. Oftentimes he refused to eat the food that his mother tried to feed him, because he simply didn't want to obey someone who didn't seem to like him very much. What did he care about superiority? Mello could do what he wanted, and he didn't care what it was his mother did next to punish him. (A slap, a spanking, a beating, or perhaps she'd use some hard object this time….) Yes, in his refusal to eat, the nice maid and the empathetic butler would give him sweets. He'd eat real food every so often, but he practically lived off of chocolate. This isn't surprising, of course._

_The maid's name was Miss Annabelle, and her hair was one of those dirty blonds that some mistake for being brown. No matter what, she'd always smile for Mello, and now that he thought about it she seemed to have taken a liking to him. Unfortunately, he hadn't really cared then, and had treated her just as rudely as he did everyone else. The butler, on the other hand, was named Alois._

_(Sierra grinned like an idiot at the name, but continued on.)_

_He was blond like Mello and came from a poor family. He would go home every night with the day's cash to feed his loved ones. He was actually rather young, and he always seemed a little dirtier than everyone else. Mello realized he never asked him who he had as a family. He seemed to understand Mello pretty well, though, so Mello had secretly liked him. He never told him that, though._

_Despite the general annoyingness of Felix, and Mello's contempt for him always being chosen over him – honestly, he didn't understand _why_ it was so; he was barely two – Mello and him always seemed to spend time together. Felix never saw it when Mommy hurt Mello, though. She'd always tell him to go away, or drag Mello away so he wouldn't see. He was oblivious to the abuse, but it's not like Mello wanted him to know. He was a strong boy, he could handle physical pain just fine. Besides, Felix never seemed to wonder where his little brother got the welts and bruises…._

_Mello was always the one to rebel and do the bad things, even though most often he got punished. Felix, meanwhile, was annoying when Mommy's back was turned, but generally nice (albeit a bit greedy) when Mommy was looking. Whatever. He was just ignorant and stupid, and after all, ignorance is bliss. But they were still close, as brothers. They would sneak beneath the dining table together late at night to listen to their parents' conversations. They'd most often avoid the subject of jobs, but they talked about tons of other topics, and it was nice learning about grown-up things. Mello would absorb it all in silence, trying to figure out what they meant by 'finances' and 'contemptuous and rebellious.' Sometimes Felix would explain it to him later, and he would absorb that too, and learn new things. Once, his mother called Mello useless and a problem child. He nearly started shouting at her, but Felix wisely covered his mouth._

_One day, they got caught. Felix was getting a cold, and had been unable to hold back a sneeze. The conversation stopped short, and Mommy had stood abruptly. The drink Felix called 'wine' spilled. "Come out," she said in a cold voice, and the two brothers hesitantly crawled out from beneath the table and stood. Felix hung his head, but Mello glared up at his mother. "You're _eavesdropping _on us?" she said in low voice, enunciating each word carefully._

"_Yeah," Mello responded boldly. "So?"_

"_Mihael," Felix hissed, "just be quiet. The reason Mom always scolds you is probably because you do this."_

_Mello only frowned, head held high._

"_You should know it's bad to listen in on someone's conversation," their mother said coldly. "I suppose you'll know that _now_." Her eyes narrowed, and her hand rose into the air. She slapped him. Felix stared, wide-eyed. "You don't. Disobey. _My rules._" She grabbed the bottle, empty of wine, and lifted it, her eyes fiery._

"_Mommy, stop!" Felix cried._

"_Let this be an example," she said to him, and broke it on the table. Mello winced as the glass scattered over his head. One shard hit his arm and drew blood. Felix stared in horror. Their father was still sitting in his seat at the table, watching the scene unfold before him without much reaction. His eyes were drooping and bloodshot. "Now say you're sorry," she said through clenched teeth._

"_No," Mello replied, glowering up at his mother._

"Now_," she repeated._

"_No! I'm not sorry!"_

"Say it!_" she commanded, her hands suddenly grasping at his neck. Mello began to choke._

_Felix took a step back, bumping into a chair in the process, and Miss Annabelle suddenly burst into the room and charged at Almira, ripping her arms from Mello's neck and forcing her away from him. "Don't you _dare _lay a hand on that child!" she yelled, gripping her wrists so she couldn't hurt him again. For now. Mello figured Miss Annabelle couldn't hold Mommy there forever, especially considering Mommy looked angrier than she'd ever been, that Mello could remember. Miss Annabelle looked back at Mello and Felix. "You two should probably hurry off to your rooms," she told them, even as Almira, their mother, yelled at Miss Annabelle and Mello. They scrambled away._

_Mello couldn't find Miss Annabelle the next day. He asked Alois about it, and he told him that Miss Annabelle couldn't work in the manor anymore. Mello had asked him why, but Alois had only smiled sadly and shook his head. That was the last he ever talked about her, and he never saw her again._

_(Mello wondered vaguely if she was still alive, somewhere….)_

_Felix started acting nicer to Mello. Actually, it wasn't so much that he was acting nicer, rather, he was more submissive, less ignorant, and so quiet compared to what he once was. Mello would yell at him, rising up to what he took as a challenge, but Felix wouldn't fight back, which only confused Mello. Of course, the fact he wasn't fighting back anymore made him even more irritated. Felix began noticing Mello's scars and wounds, too, and whenever there was a new one he would get quiet again and Mello didn't get why at the time._

_Mello actually got closer to Alois after Miss Annabelle disappeared. He told him that he shouldn't have to go through what he was, and then he'd laugh when Mello didn't respond and say that he probably didn't completely understand what he was saying anyway. But he did. He told Mello that he would try to get him out of here. This proposal surprised Mello. He'd never thought of any other life to exist, and now that the possibility was there, he kinda wanted it. He began to think that maybe he liked Alois more than he thought._

"_You can get me out?" he asked Alois one of the times the subject was mentioned. "Away? A new place? Really?"_

_Alois seemed slightly surprised at his question. Maybe he expected a shorter response from a two-year-old. But then he smiled, perhaps noticing that little bit of hope in Mello's eyes that replaced the ever-present anger. "Yes," he said. "I can take you into my house, see. Of course, I'd probably be out of a job here, so I need to have some sort of backup job first…. You know, Mihael, the only reason I have this job is because my father – also from Germany – was once a very good friend of your father. But that was before my parents died…. But that's okay; I'm sure you'll like it at my house. I have a little brother that's a bit older than Felix. He's ill, but… well, he's disabled. Very sick. But he's very nice, and I think you'll like each other. His name's Lukas, and he's got short hair the color of rust. Not blond like us, haha."_

_(Sierra was slightly creeped out by the similarity to Black Butler's own Alois and Luka at this point, albeit only in name and appearance, but that was no reason for her to stop….)_

_Mello noticed that Alois talked a lot, but for once he really didn't mind. He was painting a picture of a new and better life, after all. Mello also noticed that Alois had this sort of childishness to him, and a sense of hope. It was almost like he'd been through a lot, but he kept his innocence anyway. He kinda liked that. And every day, he talked with Alois about his future home, and one day, Alois told him that he might have found a backup job. He said he'd find out that night, but that he was sure he'd get it. With this, he told Mello that he'd get him out of here the next day. He was, of course, impatient about it, but it really didn't matter because he'd finally be out of here._

_Mello found Felix in Daddy's old office that night. "Mihael," he said as he entered, looking down at a box in his hand. "…Mihael, I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to believe about Mommy and Daddy anymore. I thought Mommy was good…."_

"_She's not," Mello informed him bluntly._

"_I know…. It's because of Daddy, isn't it? She loves him so much, but he doesn't love her back. And she's nice to me because I'm like Daddy…. Is that it?" He frowned. "Why am I asking you? You're two."_

"_I'm still smart!" Mello snapped._

"_Well, what do you think it would take to get her to be mad at me, for once? I don't think I like being like Daddy anymore…."_

_Mello scowled at the fact he'd ignored his comment._

_Felix pulled a match out of the box he held in his hand – so that's what that box was – and looked at Mello. Mello furrowed his brow. "What if I burned Daddy's office? Would she be mad at me then?"_

_Mello wasn't quite sure how answer that, so Felix struck the match. Mello took a step back, knowing the last time he'd seen fire, he'd gotten burned. (He'd asked Mommy why he couldn't touch the fire, and so she'd showed him.) Then Felix set the match by Daddy's papers, and then the paper burned and the flame began growing brighter._

"_You're stupid!" Mello shouted at his brother. Wouldn't it spread? The fire made its way to the next pile of papers and onto the table. Smoke filled the air. Mello covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve and ran out of the room, looking for Alois. He hadn't left for home yet, and he was the only one he could go to to ask what to do about a fire. Mommy would blame him; Daddy wouldn't do much, he was sure; and Miss Annabelle wasn't here anymore…._

_He searched the whole second floor, then circled back to the office to find the whole thing in flames. He stared at the flames licking at the wall, making the wallpaper peel and turn black. Mello was amazed at how fast the fire was spreading as it burned the color away, leaving only reds and oranges and yellows and black in its wake. As he looked into what was once Daddy's office, he thought he saw a figure on its hands and knees on the floor. _Felix?_ he wondered. _Idiot; he'll die! _"Felix?" he called._

_The figure looked up. "Mihael," it said, "I'm too afraid to go through the door…. It's on fire…."_

"_You idiot!" he yelled, then ran down the stairs to continue his search. "Alois!" he called. "Alois, where are you?"_

"Mihael!_"_

_Mello froze and turned round to see his mother. "Mommy, Felix used fire!"_

"_Don't you dare lie to me!" she snapped. "You set your father's office on fire, didn't you?!"_

"_No, I didn't!" he protested._

"_Yes you did!" She looked livid as she spoke, her eyes wild. She lunged for him, but he dodged and bolted away. "You little brat!" she shrieked, advancing after him rather quickly. Too quickly for Mello's comfort._

_He ran as fast as he could, glancing back only once. He'd thought she'd been angry when Miss Annabelle grabbed her by the wrists, but this most certainly topped that. Even though he was only two, he knew for a fact it wasn't smart to go anywhere near her. So, he scrambled into the kitchen and hid in a small space beneath one of the shelves. It was a relatively large space, but it was a place no one thought to look. No one had found him yet whenever he decided to hide here._

_There, he waited and waited, at first breathing hard but eventually calming down. Even then, though, he didn't move. He could still hear his mother not that far off. He could smell smoke, and eventually he could hear the crackling of the flames…. Then he heard his mother's scream – maybe she'd found Felix in the office – and a shout of Alois. At the sound of him, Mello stood abruptly, consequently slamming his skull on the shelf above him with a sharp, loud _crack_. There was a flash of color on contact, and he sunk back to the ground with his vision spinning. His eyes rolled back in his head. All was black._

_The next thing he remembered he was lying in a white bed. He couldn't remember anything, and his thoughts were slow and fuzzy. He thought he heard someone talking, and his drooping eyes travelled to a window in the room. The door was open a crack. Behind the glass, there was a boy in a wheelchair with rust-colored hair and eyes that seemed somehow familiar. "I'm sorry," a man in white said to him, "this boy is the only survivor…." But before he could watch or hear any more, he drifted back into slumber._

_When he finally woke up, he was told he had a concussion, but that he'd be okay now that he'd woken up. The people in white waited to tell him that he was an orphan now, but he couldn't even remember the family he'd lost, so he supposed it didn't matter…. It made him angry, though. He found that a lot of things could get him angry. He was placed in an orphanage, but his intelligence was at last recognized, and Watari eventually came for him. Wammy's became his new home, 'Mello' became his new name, and Near became his new rival. Things escalated from there…._

_The memories sped up._

_The world melted away…._

Mello's eyes opened, all he'd dreamed of clear in his head. He turned his head to look out the window. The sun was just rising. Time to get up.

* * *

**Well, we've now learned Mello's past. Huzzah?**

**Sorry about the whole Alois and Luka thing; the first German name that came up was 'Alois,' and I just had to go with it.**

_**Fun Fact**_**: The surname 'Kheel' is actually of Croatian origin, so technically it should be Mello's _father_ that's Croatian rather than his mother.**

**Review? For memories?**


	24. Chapter 24

_**Mrs. Lawliet**_**: **Because...of cruelty in humanity? I'm glad the tissue helped.

_**random**_**: **She does kinda need a hug, huh?... Ah, but of course I must warn my readers of such things...  
Forgot your password, huh? I hope you remember it, then; goodness.

_**Kawaiimint**_**: **I've gotta say Mello's past was fin to write, really. I find pasts in general interesting. Ahhh...so much of this story is bittersweet... Blah...

**Ahh, I'm back to school today. Yay?**

**Well...here is where you learn B's pattern. Prepare for its actual simplicity.**

**Anyhoo, it's Anna's turn to have a nice piece of this story.**

**Enjoy~**

* * *

He got it. B's pattern. It was so glaringly obvious now that L found it that he felt so _stupid _for not thinking of it earlier. He put his hand to his forehead. It was so simple. The bad pieces the people were tied to: that was the key. Sickness, Obsession, Pandora's Box, Hatred, Ignorance…. Look at the first letters. '_SOPHI.' _He was spelling out 'Sophia.' B had even told him the answer in the very first case with Sayuri Sakamoto. He'd written in that note about someone close, with a bond. Who else would it be but Sophia? Damn it, how had he missed that?

But that didn't matter now. What mattered was where the next murder would take place. The only clue he got was the fact that Saki Ijiri was cut into six pieces and each piece was put in a respective tree. He connected the trees on a map, looked at the species of tree, thought of the significance of the number six…. Nothing.

Figures that the moment he discovered the pattern of people, he'd be caught by the pattern of place. Was that what B had planned?

L bit his thumbnail, glaring at the screen before him. _Damn you, B…._ Oh well; he supposed he'd have to work on that. The next victim would be killed tonight. A. Amorality? Anger? Aggression? Alienation? Animosity? _I'll say amorality or animosity…._ He sighed lightly. It seemed he'd have to figure this out by tonight.

* * *

It was a normal Monday in SPK headquarters. Anna was bored, Near was patient, Rester was quiet, Halle was… Halle, and Gevanni was lighthearted and even joking without much work to focus on. "Why aren't we getting anywhere, Near?" Anna asked him.

"Because we are waiting," he responded.

"Why are we waiting?"

"The last time I decided to stop waiting, my plan nearly got all of us killed. Mello, fortunately, stopped that from happening."

"So? You learned your lesson, and you won't do it again. Right?"

He glanced at her. "It's not quite like that, Anna."

"Well, you're a genius, you're amazing, and you're smarter than Mello. I know you can do it."

Near paused in building his dice tower. Then continued. "It is true that I surpass Mello, but it is also true that L surpasses both of us, and only together can we surpass him."

"So you're telling me we're waiting for Mello to make a move?" Anna asked him.

"Not necessarily," was his response. "If he doesn't do something soon, then I can assure you we will make a move."

Anna sighed, then moved on to talk to Gevanni for awhile. They spoke idly of L and Sam and Light and me. Gevanni always seemed kinda nervous when she talked about me or Light with him, though, because he knew that in theory we were Kira, and it didn't seem right for Anna to talk about us so fondly. Anna eventually circled back to Near, though. _Near, can I build too?_

_I don't see why not…,_ he responded. There was some sort of irritation. Hesitation? Anna didn't know, but she knew he didn't like exercising their thought abilities. It meant making the Bond progress faster, and he didn't like the idea of reaching the final stage. Near had decided that the reason it took years for Light and I to reach the final stage was because for much of that time we tried to keep our own thoughts from the other. You know, back when I wasn't on Kira's side, and we weren't exactly '_close_.' (Yet, wonder of wonders, look where we were now.) Therefore, Near tried not to use the thought-reading thing so often.

Nonetheless, Anna frowned slightly at that irritation/hesitation/whatever it was. She began building her own little structure of dice. _Near, why don't you want to reach the final stage?_

_I've always kept to myself_, he answered.

_So? It's not that you don't trust me, is it?_

_Not necessarily…._

She sighed. _Hey, I have a question._

_Yes?_

_Why did you get me to give jam to Sophia?_

_Do you wish me to be completely honest?_

_Yes! _She huffed. What kind of question was that? No, I want you to _lie _to me. Nooo.

_You must be sure not to give anyone this information, _he told her.

_Yeah, sure. _She actually hasn't expected some sort of secret. She just wanted conversation. Huh.

_Sophia is Bonded to a man named Beyond Birthday,_ Near informed her._ He is the one who killed Misa Amane._

She processed this for a second. _So you gave him _jam?_ What the heck?!_

_It was poisoned. It has likely killed Beyond, but allowed Sophia to live._

_So… you sent me… to kill BB?_

_Indirectly._

She was quiet for awhile, not quite sure what to think about that. There was a stretch of quiet, where only the clicking of the dice and the chatting of Halle and Gevanni in the background. ("I think it's raining again." "Well, Halle, I _told _you it would rain today. It's been raining a lot lately…. But I can tell you now that it'll clear up and then pour even worse tonight." "Oh, that's nice….")

_Hey Near? _Anna thought eventually. Later. It was later in the day by this time, too; the sun was likely beginning to set by now.

_Yes, Anna? _His tower was taller than his sitting form now.

_What do you see me as? I'm… curious._

_A loyal member of the SPK…. Why?_

She stifled her disappointment. _Well, I don't know, I thought that maybe we could be friends or something…._

_Friends? _Near repeated as if the word was unfamiliar to him. And it almost was. I mean, he knew what a 'friend' was: A person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection. But he'd never _had _one, you see, so….

_Yes, friends!_ Anna replied. _Don't you think of me as a friend, at least?_

_I'm not sure, Anna._

_What do you _mean_ you're not sure? It's easy! Am I a friend? Less than that? More than that? I just wanna know that much!_

_I'm sorry, Anna. I don't know. Don't get angry, either._

_Why not?!_

_I can feel it, Anna._

_So? Does that annoy you? Do _I _annoy you?_

He grew slightly irritated. _You have a temper, I'll grant you that, Anna._

Her cheeks flushed out of_ more_ anger. _Near, why don't you like being mind synced with me?_

_Anna, please…. I'm trying to concentrate…._

"What do you _mean _you're trying to concentrate?!" she snapped aloud.

Gevanni and Halle looked at her, their conversation ending abruptly.

"Despite what you may think, Anna," Near replied, "I _am _still trying to put together some sort of plan…."

"We've done nothing but give jam to BB for a long time, Near!" Anna shot back.

"I know that, Anna, and I repeatedly tell you why…. Please stop yelling."

"No! I'll yell at you if I want to!"

"You're very loud, and I'd like to be able to concentrate…. Please, calm down."

"Then can I think to you now?" she asked, frowning.

"I'd prefer you not…. You know I don't like using the Bond."

"That's just it!" she cried. "Why not?!"

"And I supposed you hate me now, too?" he asked in a quieter voice.

"Oh my _god_, Near, are you an idiot?! You _really _don't get it, do you?!"

Near looked at her.

"Do you know _why _I was so enthusiastic to join? _Why _you're my favorite character? _Why _I interrupt your thoughts just to talk?! _Why _I was _sobbing _when I thought you'd _died_?! _Why I saved you?!_"

Halle and Gevanni glanced at one another. Near gazed blankly at Anna, unable to conjecture what she was getting at.

Her face was growing redder from yelling so much. "You really _don't _get it! Near, I do all that, _did _that, because _I love you_!" And she stopped there, panting from her rant. The room was silent. A pause. Near was dumbfounded. "I'm going home," she muttered, and turned to walk out the door. There was another pause after the door closed.

Gevanni let out a low whistle. "Well, I didn't see that coming."

Halle frowned at him. "I did."

"You did?"

"Yeah; of _course _I did. It was kinda obvious."

"Oh…."

Rester only gazed at the door for awhile before looking to Near. See how he was handling that. He would eventually turn back to his work.

Near, of course, wasn't so sure how to respond, so he only uttered a soft, "Thank you," with his bangs seeming to shroud his eyes.

* * *

Beyond wandered the streets under a dark, unwelcoming sky. It had rained earlier, but it was beginning to sprinkle again. Not many people were walking on the sidewalk for this reason. He just made his way forward, not quite sure where he wanted to go, only knowing that it was _somewhere_. _Step, step, step._ He'd have to find a marker for Sophia's grave…. _Step, step, step_. Was a storm coming in? _Step, step, step._ He was running low on jam… he'd have to get some. _Step, step…._ He came across a lighter lying there on the sidewalk. He paused just to look at it. It was a deep blue, and he vaguely wondered if there was even any lighter fluid left in it. He picked it up. Shook it. It was still full. Someone must have dropped it. He continued walking.

He lit the lighter with a _click_. Gazed at the flame. Turned it off. Did it again. _Click_. On. Off. It didn't make a noise when he let go of the button…. _Click. _On. Off. He'd have to kill again tonight, wouldn't he? _Click_. On. Off. He didn't have a victim planned, did he? _Click._ On. Off. No, he didn't…. _Click._ On. Off. He'd have to figure something out…. _Click._ On. Off. _Click_. On. Off. He found himself wandering into an abandoned parking lot, and it was then it began to rain. No… it began to pour. _Click. Click, click. _He saw a spark, but no flame. The rain soaked through his clothes. _Click. _Another spark. _Click. Click. Click._ He was soaked to the bone. He didn't mind. _Click_. Only a spark. Like an unborn child being snuffed out before it could be really called human. Haha.

A figure walked by on the sidewalk, her arms pulled around her. She was soaked too. Out of habit, he looked up to her name and lifespan. "Annalisa Page…," he murmured. His voice didn't sound right to him. Maybe because he hadn't used it in a few days. His words were lost in the rain anyway. "Anna…," he repeated, knowing it sounded familiar, and as her lifespan shifted and changed he knew that she was most definitely one of the real-world girls. "_Anna_."

She turned. Looked at him for a second. Squinted in the rain. "_L?_" she asked confusedly. "What are you doing out here in the rain? You're not thinking of the bells again, are you?"

"…No…," B replied. He thought he should probably flip his acting switch on, but he'd forgotten where it was, let alone how to activate it.

"Well then come on with me; we're both soaked. We can go to mine and Aunt Natalie's house. I guess you'd call it Sam's, but whatever."

He blinked slowly, then began to follow her.

"So why are you wearing black?" Anna asked him, and he looked down at his non-L-like clothes. "Oh, whatever, maybe it's something in your past that you don't want to share." She sighed. "You know, I just had a fight with Near…."

He didn't answer. What was he supposed to say, anyhow?

"I guess that doesn't matter, though."

Right. Did he have his sedatives with him? He patted his pockets. Surely he had what he needed…. The rain continued coming down in sheets.

"Hey, did you know that Near tried to kill BB?"

B stopped trying to find his sedatives.

"He gave me a jar of jam and told me to give it to Sophia, but apparently it was poisoned. I mean, jeez, he could have _told _me. But now BB's dead, so I guess that's okay."

Beyond froze. Stopped walking. The hiss of the rain faded and he heard nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing. Then ringing.

Anna looked back at him. "L, what's wrong?"

B didn't hear her. Near was the one who'd killed Sophia. Near. Wasn't this girl Bonded to him? Near, damn it; _Near_.

"You didn't want him doing something like that, did you?" Anna sighed. "Figures."

Beyond found himself shaking. He killed… _Sophia_…. He _killed_… half of him…. Near… killed….

"Well, I'm sorry about that, I guess," Anna said, rolling her shoulders uncomfortably. "I hope he didn't make you mad…. I mean, at least he did _something_. He says he's concentrating on making a plan, but we haven't done much. But then, I guess I can't tell, since I try not to invade his thoughts too often…. He doesn't like it when I do that."

His eyes flicked to her. Near's Bond. He took a step forward. He was still shaking.

Anna turned around, assuming he was ready to get walking again. "But I guess I get it… He just wants his privacy…."

His hand, shaking violently, made its way into his pocket. He pulled out the syringe. The corners of his moth twitched, and were still. Suddenly he stopped shaking and all was calm again. Dead. He lifted it smoothly. Steadily. And, with the precision of an experienced killer, he thrust the needle into Anna's neck and injected the sedative, cutting her off mid-sentence.

She would be his next kill.

In this calm sort of clarity that also felt so much like _Nothing_, he lifted her and was able to actually _think _for the first time since Sophia's death. He supposed this was a glimpse of what he'd be like once he got over being so abruptly cut in half. He felt cold, so cold, both inside and out, and it wasn't just because of the rain. It was the coldness of _Nothing_, but he almost felt like he _was _Nothing. Yet in existence. Sharp. Precise. But empty. So empty. A deadly puppet, in which he was his own puppeteer.

Now, on Annalisa…. His next kill would be based upon animosity. She had said she had just had a fight with _Near_…. (Beyond was beginning to not like the name, and he rarely not-liked things….) It was perfect. She would work. He knew exactly where he would bring her and how she would die.

As he continued on his way, the cold Nothing began to fade and the odd lonely fog began to descend upon him again, enveloping his senses.

* * *

**BB, you're terrible.**

**Though I've gotta say I really liked writing that first part of the scene. This new BB I have to say I find fun to work with.**

_**Fun**_** _Fact_: I'm pretty sure I used Google to define the word 'friend' up there. Gotta love Near and his logic-ness. *sigh***

**Review? For...um...lighters?**


	25. Chapter 25

**_kawaiimint_: **Whoa...I gave you feels? I don't know whether to be sorry...or to feel accomplished.  
I suppose we'll discover Anna's fate here, huh?

_**Reader**_**: **Haha, well, you're right, that isn't nice...but I don't think BB really cares, aha.  
Yes, the real Sam and Sierra read this. Real-Life Anna actually isn't allowed to read it because her grandma (my mom) won't let her read it. But yeahh, Real-Life Sam and Sierra definitely have read this~

**Well, let's hope Anna lives, here, eh?**

**Onward!**

* * *

_Anna._

A voice through the dark. The haze. The dark haze. It was comforting too, so she supposed she didn't mind it.

_Anna, wake up. Now._

Why should she? It was nice…. It wasn't a darkness where you just fell and fell and fell…. It was a darkness where the air was thick and you seemed to float. Drift. She rather liked this darkness.

_Anna, _open your eyes.

_Why? _she thought back to Near in a slurring tone.

_Just crack an eye open and _don't move. _Listen to me._

_Why? _She was slipping again.

_Trust me, Anna. Please._

She decided to listen to him – he'd actually said '_please,_' after all – and forced one eye open halfway. She looked around. Where the heckll _was _she? Her eyes opened. She looked around some more. She saw that she was lying on a table. There were knives and scalpels on a table to her right. A figure was working on something somewhere down by her feet, but she couldn't see without moving her head. She got scared. What had happened? What did she miss? Was this a bad dream?

_Calm down,_ Near thought to her, and she suddenly remembered the fight she had. Her face went red in embarrassment. Not only did she hate her temper, but she had blurted something she didn't exactly want known. _Focus on what happened after that, _Near told her.

Well, yeah. She'd been walking in the rain with L….

_I don't think that was L, Anna…. _

_But who else could it be? BB died…._

_I don't think the plan worked, Anna. Either Beyond didn't eat the jam, or Sophia ate it instead._

She felt the color drain from her face as she stared at the ceiling. _So, I might have indirectly killed Sophia? _she asked hesitantly. She felt kinda sick.

_Maybe. And I'm sorry._

Anna was surprised. He didn't say that too often. 'Please' _and _'sorry'? Today was a special day.

_Now, Anna, listen to me. Tell me when Beyond is farther away, or not looking in your direction._

Anna gulped. _Okay, _she thought, and strained her eyes without moving her head to watch as B lingered awhile doing something or other before leaving the room through an exit somewhere to her left, too far down for her to see. _So do I run for it?_

_No, _Near responded. _You don't know where you are, and it could very well be that the only exit is where he's going right now. Instead, grab a knife from the table to your right._

_Um, why? _she wondered nervously, though she took one of them anyway. She was trembling ever so slightly, but somehow Near was able to calm her senses and give her better self-control. Why didn't he do this before, exactly?

_You are going to stab him before he tries to hurt you. You will stab him, and then you will run. Alright?_

She swallowed hard. _Alright._ She tried to make the knife harder to see without moving too much as she saw B come back into the room.

_Close your eyes, Anna,_ Near ordered calmly.

She did so quickly, breathing deeply. She heard him step closer and closer, and she bit her tongue simply because she was unable to tense up any other way without alerting B that she was awake. She could hear the sound of a knife being lifted off the table.

_Now, Anna, _thought Near, and Anna's eyes flew open. She swung the knife from beneath her, tearing her shirt and accidentally slicing at her own back, and plunged it into Beyond's side near his stomach.

"_Damn it!_" he cried out, and the knife in his hand clattered to the floor. Beyond clutched at his side, his eyes wider than Anna thought they could go. She froze, unbelieving of what just happened.

_Anna, move, now!_

She rolled off the table onto her feet and ran, her feet pounding on the cement floor. She ran into the next room and up a flight of stairs, through a door to freedom. She kept running. Kept running and running and she wouldn't stop until she reached home.

* * *

Roppongi. It would happen in Roppongi tonight. Light and I knew. How? Saki Ijiri had been found in six pieces, in six different trees. 'Six trees.' '_Roppongi._' It was simply what the name's origin meant. We wondered if L had found out yet. We just weren't quite sure of whom the next victim was…. Light was working on that now, back at his house, while I made my way back to my own home. I'd left before I had gotten too tired this time. Wouldn't want to wake up only to start blushing profusely…. Luckily, the rain had let up soon enough that that wouldn't have to happen.

I blinked as I reached the driveway. The lights were off. Anna wasn't home?

"Aunt Natalie!" came the cry of said niece, and she emerged from the night in the opposite direction, hugging me tight on contact and clutching me close. She seemed on the brink of tears. "Aunt Natalie," she repeated, relieved, and hugged me tighter. "Aunt Natalie…."

I hugged her close, concerned. "Anna, what's wrong?"

"C-can we get inside first?"

"Of course," I told her, and we walked up the driveway with my arm around her.

"I-it was… BB…," she mumbled.

I stiffened as I walked. "What happened, Anna?" I asked seriously.

"BB caught me…. I thought he was—he was L, and…."

I unlocked the door, let us in, and led her to the couch after taking off my shoes.

"He tried to kill me," she said, barely above a whisper. "I was scared, Aunt Natalie…."

I pulled her into a hug. "He's gone now, Anna…. You're safe with me," I assured her in warm, soothing tones, holding her close and rocking gently. Oh, yes, she'd be safe with me. Because even if he did come here to get her, I may very well have killed him with my bare hands. First Misa… then my niece. _That_ was a no. Yes, I rather wanted him dead…. _We _did. And we _would _somehow get him killed...

* * *

His breath was shaky. B was trembling again; shaking violently, and he couldn't do anything about it. After Anna had run, he had only sat there on the ground as his side throbbed and protested at the sudden movement of collapse. Well, not _quite _collapse, but he'll admit it was somewhere along those lines. He eventually released his side and stared at his bloodied hands (his own blood this time), shaking; still shaking. He tried to breathe normally but couldn't. Why couldn't he stop shaking? He shuddered, and it hurt, but he couldn't help it, and what was this pain anyway compared to burning alive? Burning, burning, burning forever. (But of course he lived again because_ he was the phoenix, and she was his mockingbird_. But his mockingbird is dead now and the phoenix is very lonely….)

He felt like a child again. A child trying to perform his first murder. It was messy and unorganized and he _failed_. A horrible job; a horrible job indeed. And he'd only gotten stabbed when he'd felt much worse and here he was, sitting on the ground with his blood pooling around him, staring at his hands and shaking, unable to stop. He put his hands to his face with his eyes still wide open, smearing the blood on his forehead and cheeks but not caring as he curled forward and tried to stop shaking. _Just sitting here won't do anything._

He staggered to his feet, holding his injured left side with his right arm again as he looked around. He left his pool of blood (_That'll leave a stain; I know it'll leave a stain…._) and headed to a cabinet in the right corner of the room. He needed bandages. Gauze and surgical tape. Yes, that would keep him good for the night. It wasn't _that _deep, and besides, he knew that he had had much worse….

He had to get things together; he had to get things together. He shuffled through the medical things and shakily wrapped the gauze and taped it. His hand slipped unexpectedly once and he jabbed at the wound, consequently releasing a yelp of pain. Normally he wouldn't have made a noise, but _something _was wrong with him and he couldn't help it. Then he made his way to the next room, leaving bloody footprints….. Blood. The blood! "I need to wash it off…," he told himself through gritted teeth, and turned to the sink, hastily running the water and thrusting his hands beneath the downpour. He looked in the mirror and saw his blood-smeared face, so he brought his hands up to the blood there and repeated again and again until his face was clean. He shivered as he grabbed the towel. Done; this all needed to be done….

He shuffled to the corner where he had a few spare clothes _just in case_, and he stripped down so that he could put them on. Shaking, it took a little longer than he liked. But he finished, so that was done. There. Now he was decent. He needed to find a victim. He took a deep, shaky breath and went up the stairs to the outside world. He was already in Roppongi. He just needed to find a person. He had a syringe and a…. He let out a yell of frustration and ran back down to grab a knife before going back up again and making his way to where the people were. It had stopped raining. He passed one person, then two, but neither of them seemed good candidates. The shakiness began to subside to the cold Nothing he had experienced earlier. His eyes narrowed as the Nothing engulfed him; all became still. The shaking stopped. He would get his job done, and he would _win _against L because the copy_ would_ surpass the original and B would be better than him at last.

Even without his mockingbird.

He took long strides, his eyes flicking right and left in case he should spot someone. He accidentally brushed against one man whose name was Akira Ueda. His face was unshaven and bristly, and he had short, messy, black hair. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked testily.

Beyond didn't respond. Only looked at him.

"Watch where you're going, next time," the man muttered, and Beyond flung his fist into Akira's stomach. "What that hell?!" he snapped, and grasped at the collar of Beyond's shirt. B let it happen. He just gazed at the man with empty eyes. His lifespan was due. He flipped out the knife and, in one movement, swiftly plunged it between his ribs and into his chest. Ueda made a horrible gasping sound, stiffened, and went limp. B easily slung him over his shoulder and ran.

In a specific alley, prepared before Sophia had died, he had a body bag hidden. It was there that he placed Ueda and zipped him up before heading straight to his hideout in Roppongi. This one was aboveground. He took his time doing his makeup to look like a completely different person, even dressing himself up in a suit for the part and fitting a wig on his head. This didn't take too long, and soon he was taking dear Akira to the Roppongi Hills building, one of the tallest skyscrapers in the district. They – 'they' meaning a very tired woman who wasn't really paying attention – let him in under the name Tekii Hurami (Hahaha, what a funny, funny name!), and he headed right up to the roof to see that the sun was just appearing on the horizon in the east. It wasn't quite up yet, and he couldn't see it, but there was light beginning to shine from behind the skyscrapers and the line of the Earth.

Beyond unzipped the body bag, pulled Akira Ueda out, and laid him in front of him before pulling out the knife and etching into his chest groups of letters that currently only he could understand. But L would figure it out. L would figure it out too late. B had to think about them, _really _think about them, but he got them down. When he was done, he smiled, but it felt like he was just pulling up the corners of his mouth, not actually _smiling._ He decided to stop, and did. He lifted Ueda, carried him over the edge, and with a dull-eyed, dark, expressionless face he threw him over the edge and down to the awakening city below….

* * *

He threw him off a building. Threw him off of a _building_. To represent animosity – or aggression, but it really didn't matter which one. How creative. And he was there in person; there were _witnesses_. Not of the murder, but they saw his latest victim (Akira Ueda was his name) plummet down fifty-four stories only to smash into the pavement of the sidewalk, leaving a nasty stain that the homicide team would have to clean up. The only clue was a scrawl of seemingly random letters on the man's chest.

L would have to figure this out, and quick, if he wanted to catch him. That wasn't the last of the murders, and he knew it. The next murder victim would be Beyond Birthday himself. He wouldn't be surprised if he burnt himself alive again, either. L supposed it would happen the twenty-seventh, if only because seven plus two is nine, and of course nine was one of Beyond's special numbers. (Because 13 is B, and 1 + 3 is 4 and 4 + 9 is 13 all over again, wasn't it?) Alright, the _who_ and the _when _were set.

Next question: Where?

Well, where was the place in Tokyo with a lot of suicides _and _a lot of murders? (Of course it had to be both, since he couldn't just imply he was committing suicide. It had to seem like murder, after all.) The two most popular ways to commit suicide in Japan were to jump in front of trains (or rather, subways) and to jump off of buildings. Crime in Japan (you know, back when there was more of it and Kira didn't exist) was centered around train stations (or rather, subway stations). The busiest train station in the world happened to be in Tokyo: Shinjuku Station in the Shinjuku ward of Tokyo. It would be in Shinjuku, then; likely nearby Shinjuku station. But he couldn't be completely sure exactly where… and after all, Shinjuku was a large area, and the station was closely connected to so many other platforms. Those letters etched on Akira Ueda's chest would tell him the answer, he was sure. The only problem was the fact Ueda's fall had made the marks nearly illegible. L supposed he would have to call the autopsy people to ask them to make the letters able to be read. All they had to do was carefully take off the skin of his chest with a scalpel….

He sighed and pressed the connection button in order to connect to Roger.

* * *

**Sorry the chapter is relatively short. I hope you enjoyed anyway.**

_**Fun Fact**_**: I think I was reading Stephen King's _Misery _at the time of writing this, and that's where the idea of the haze came from in the first scene.**

**Review? For...stabbing serial killers before they kill you? Ahaha...**


	26. Chapter 26

_**Mrs. Lawliet**_**: **Psh, don't be sorry. It's fine; I'm glad you found your device~

**_Reader_:** Indeed, isn't being alive wonderful? Well, I guess will see how BB does this time, haha~  
Yes, L has figured out the SOPHIA pattern. :3 He figured out in...chapter 24. Yeah.

**Oh boy.**

**Fluff.**

* * *

"Damn it…," Matt muttered as the screen went black again.

"What's wrong?" asked Sierra quietly. She was curled up on the old white couch, her knees to her chin. It was becoming a normal position.

"L's got this hidden virus that goes off whenever you try to hack into the system… I have to override it if I'm going to get our surveillance system working. Aaand… considering we're doing the kidnapping thing tomorrow, I should probably get that done today. Mello'll be pissed if I don't." He heaved a sigh.

"Is there any way I can help?" Sierra asked.

"Nope. Sorry… I just can't see what you can do here."

"I thought so…."

Matt looked at her, then took the cigarette out of his mouth and smothered it in an ashtray. "Hey, you're keeping me company, aren't you? Just be glad you don't have to do any of this boring work." He stretched, leaning back in the roll-y chair he sat in. "Hey…."

"What?" she responded.

He seemed to stare at the ceiling, though for all Sierra knew he could be staring straight at her. "I dare you to tell Mello your deepest secret," he said matter-of-factly.

Sierra just looked at him a moment and blinked. Then the old rebelliousness and stubbornness to not do what other people told her to flowed back and she uncurled herself and stood. "What the hell?! No!"

Matt laughed. "Well, you're suddenly lively."

"Well, yeah! No way in hell am I just gonna walk up to Mello and tell him my deepest secret!"

"Then don't tell him. Write it down and give it to him."

"Still no, Matt," she scowled.

He held up a gloved finger. "You yourself said – back on May sixth – that you would never back down on a dare. And I've finally come up with one forty-six days later. So here you go."

Her scowl deepened.

"Well, I'm right, aren't I?"

"…Meh," she muttered, crossing her arms and sitting down roughly.

"Think of it this way, Sierra: won't he learn about it soon enough anyway?"

She felt the color drain from her face.

"And besides," Matt continued, "it can't be _that _bad. Like, I know mine's pretty pathetic and wouldn't be a big deal to anyone but me." He shrugged.

Now she was feeling her face heat up. "Well, would you tell someone that secret?"

"Psh, no."

"Exactly!" she cried. Her voice cracked.

"Look, he's going to find out anyway, and it's not like I'm listening." He smirked. "I'm just the little genius who thinks he might know, and that in itself makes me happy enough." He leaned back further in his chair, bringing his arms back to allow his head to rest on them. He tipped too far, though, and fell backwards. "Shit!" he yelped as he went down.

Sierra laughed.

The day slipped by slowly (unlike that roll-y chair that Matt had been in), but Sierra would keep her word. Matt had been right: she never, _ever _backed down from a dare. It was like a challenge, and she simply did _not _back down from a challenge. And as the day began to wind down, she began to get on edge for the mere reason that she would have to _tell._ '_Before you reach the final stage, too, alright?_' Matt had added, and she'd only rolled her eyes. But that mattered. It mattered so much, all because of what it _was_, and she realized that just two days ago she'd nearly _killed herself_, and here she was worrying about little things like this again. (Though she had started feeling at least a bit better after Sunday night; she didn't know why….) She sighed at how stupid it seemed. She supposed it was just one of those things that couldn't really be helped.

She supposed the question was how long she could hold it off. How long did it take to reach the final stage after you started feeling the other's pain? Oh, God, how long had it been? A wave of uneasiness swept over her, then eased quickly. It would come when it would come, wouldn't it? It's not like they could do anything about it at this point. Well, she had to find out when the mind sync would reach its ending stage.

So, she called me.

"Hello?" I said, answering the phone. I had been on my way to Light's, because after all we'd just hit upon something: the pattern of the victims. And if we were right, it was possible that there was still one left…. One more. Maybe.

"Hey," Sierra answered. She brought up a smile. She hadn't talked to me in awhile. But then the smile didn't feel quite right, and so she stopped. "It's Sierra," she informed me.

"Yeah, I haven't heard from you in awhile. How are you?"

"Great!" she beamed, despite everything that had been going on with her.

"I hope so…. God, you know I'm worried about you, right? You better know. Jeez, Sierra, you need to call to give me updates more often. Do you know how many things could happen?"

"A lot," she answered. "But I'm fine!" Yes, she was getting her mask back just fine. "How are you, though?"

"Oh, I'm doing alright."

"What about Anna? Is she alright? Sam? What about Near and Matsuda and L and—"

"They're fine, Sierra, they're fine," I laughed. "Everyone's doing good…."

Sierra found herself realizing how much she missed everyone. "Can I talk to Anna?"

"Uh, no… I'm not with her right now."

"Where are you?"

"I'm on my way to Light's."

"Oh!" she squeaked.

I frowned. "We're…. Ah. Did you hear about Misa?"

The grin disappeared. "Yeah," she answered softly.

"Yeah…." There was a pause. "Sierra… we all miss you, you know."

She smiled ever so slightly. "I… I know." She blinked. "Oh right! I called to ask you something!"

I chuckled. "And what's that?"

"Well, Mello and I started feeling each other's pain…."

"What?" I asked, surprised. "When?"

"Uh… I think last Wednesday. My question is how long it takes for the final stage to be reached…."

"It usually takes about a week, Sierra… so it'll happen soon."

Sierra laughed weakly. "Oh, that's great. Real great. So according to that it'll happen tomorrow?"

"Yeah, but 'a week' is really more of an approximation than a definite thing, so…."

_Wait, tomorrow we're kidnapping her, _Sierra thought blankly. _Oh, that'll go well. _"Well… that's nice. That'll be so _creepy_…. Natalie, I don't wanna reach the final stage!" she wailed.

"I know, I know," I laughed. "But I can assure you it's not so bad once you're used to it."

"Ehh…."

"It'll be fine, Sierra," I assured her.

"But… it just doesn't… _work_."

"It will. I promise. It's how the Bond works. It can't go any other way…."

"Still creepy, Natalie. _Reeaallly creeepyyyy_…."

"It won't be."

"I know, but still!"

"Hey, at least you're warned about it. Light and I had no idea, you know."

She frowned. "Well, that's true. Um, I should probably get going, though."

"Alright, that's fine. It's getting late anyway…."

"Yeah," Sierra agreed. "Well I'm glad all of you are doing alright, and I hope I see you again soon! Bye!" she squeaked, and flipped the cell phone shut. She stared at it a moment, then looked out to the wall of windows. A waxing moon hung in the sky. "I guess it's today then," she sighed, and went over to her bedside table to set her cell there. She opened the drawer and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. No way in hell was she saying it aloud, so she was taking Matt's suggestion and writing it down for him. Hopefully he wouldn't be stupid and say "What?" anyhow, because then she'd have to say it aloud either way. She huffed. Stupid Matt, making her do this in the first place.

She went out of her room and turned to the left, towards Mello's room. She frowned deeply at the closed door, and knocked. _You know you can come in, Sierra, _Mello thought to her, as if it were obvious.

"Well, meh," she muttered, and opened the door.

_Close the door, would you? The light's annoying. _She did so. "Sierra, do you remember what happened on Sunday night?"

_Sunday night?_ she thought confusedly. No, she hadn't done much. Sunday was the day Mello had actually given her a hug, the day she'd nearly let go of that railing, the day she had lunch with Matt on the roof, and after that not much had happened…. "What are you talking about?"

"I didn't think you did," was his response. He sighed. He was sitting in an alcove with the window in front of him, walls on either side of him, nearly enclosing him. Technically, he had a wall of windows just like Sierra, but the alcove was a little addition that Mello seemed to enjoy, if only slightly.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I went to your subconscious again, that's all." _And I…. _His thoughts trailed off.

"You what?" A fleeting thought of a hand outstretched to reach her.

"Nothing. So what did you want?" He actually looked back at her. "I'm going to guess you didn't come in here just to say hi."

She clutched the paper and pen to her chest. "Matt dared me to do something."

She felt that he was vaguely irritated. "Oh really? What'd he dare you to do?"

"Tell you my deepest secret."

He frowned. "Isn't that one of those things you don't _ever _tell someone anyhow? What the hell, Matt?"

"Well, I guess his logic was the fact that we're going to reach the final stage soon anyway."

He frowned. "Well, you don't have to tell me, whatever it is."

"But it's a _dare_. And I don't back down from dares."

He looked at her for a second, then shrugged. "Alright, go ahead."

"But I'm not saying it aloud. I'm going to write it down."

"Then come over here so you can actually see in the moonlight."

"But I can see just fine."

"I can't see what you're writing over there," he pointed out with another frown. "Now, I don't give a shit about dares, but if you're going to follow through with this, you're gonna have to come over here. It's not like I'm gonna hurt you."

"Alright," she mumbled, and began scribbling her words as neatly as she could. Thinking on how this would look, she grew even more embarrassed about it. It couldn't be subtle as if she brought it up in conversation. She'd have to just hold it up, and he'd read it and suddenly know. God damn it, which was better, saying it or writing it? Well, writing it was easier, so….

She finished writing the sentence down.

Turning the page so the letters were facing her, she began walking towards Mello. Mello, typically, was getting impatient, but that was how he always was, so it was only to be expected. He shifted to allow her to sit in the alcove with him, which surprised her but she accepted. She sat beside him with her legs curled beneath her.

"Soo…," she said awkwardly.

He eyed the paper, but didn't bring it up. "Do you know how long it takes to reach the final stage?" he asked her.

"I talked to Natalie…. She says it'll happen real soon, since it usually takes around a week for it to happen after you start feeling each other's pain."

"Huh," he responded. "That'll be interesting, won't it?" He snapped off a piece of his chocolate.

"It'll be _creepy_," said Sierra.

"It might be a little… unnerving, yeah."

"Yeah…." She sighed, looking at the paper. "Well, Matt dared me to tell you this…."

"You know, it's just a dare."

"But I never back down on them. It's who I am."

He looked at her for a second, then nodded. "I guess so."

"So…." She felt her face heat up just enough that she'd be blushing, so she quickly flipped the paper around, hanging her head so her hair was in her face to hide the red. "Stupid, isn't it?" she asked.

He read it once. Read it again.

_I love you._

He looked away.

Sierra waited for his response. 'Wow, really? That's it?' or maybe some sort of rejection. He coughed, and she looked up. He was looking out the window, careful to avert his gaze from hers. He muttered something.

"…What?" she asked quietly, unsure whether she wanted to know.

"I…." He scowled.

Holy _shit_, was he going red?

Sierra blinked.

"I like… er…."

Mello, the tough guy, was awkward. Comes with being a Wammy kid, I guess.

_What is he getting at?_ she wondered with wide, blank eyes.

"I… I love you too," he muttered, glaring out the window. There was silence for a few seconds.

"…You do?" she asked blankly.

Something shifted in his features, though she wasn't sure what. "Of course I do," he frowned, and looked to her.

"But I annoy you and you don't give me hugs and you hate me and—"

"I don't hate you!" he snapped, looking straight at her. "…And that doesn't mean I don't…." He scowled again, unable to finish the sentence.

"You…," she said blankly. Her mind didn't quite process it. It didn't seem right, knowing it was Mello. I mean, _Mello_, of _all people_. (Perhaps she'd twisted his character a bit too, hadn't she?)

"Yes," he said, looking right at her again.

"Uh…." She honestly didn't know how to respond. Okay, they'd admitted the thing neither of them could ever admit. Now what?

He hesitated for a second, but then brought his lips onto hers. And it was a conscious decision this time, not one of those kisses they always had where it occurred and a second after they had no idea what had happened. And they'd deny it as if it _didn't _happen. But this did; it had to because they had _admitted it_.

Sierra's eyes were still wide open at first, but they closed and she almost felt _happy_. It was nice. She awkwardly wrapped her arms around his neck, and he responded by placing his own hands on her back, holding her close. She thought about how he tasted like chocolate, but of course what _else _would he taste like? And she tasted of chocolate too, but also of tea, and Mello thought that maybe he liked that tea. And in that alcove, they didn't part.

* * *

"Well then," said Matt, eyeing the surveillance screens. He took a drag of his cigarette. A minute before, he'd gotten the surveillance camera's working. He'd checked to make sure all of the cameras worked, and they did. He just didn't expect to see the whole 'Mello and Sierra making out' thing. "Isn't this interesting?" he asked no one, and snickered to himself. He guessed his dare had gone well after all. He wondered how he'd let them know he'd seen everything….

* * *

**Oh, Matt.**

**I have to say I am still not proud of any of my fluff scenes.**

**...One day I want to make a scene just like that, but when the girl flips over the paper, it's something completely different that just ruins the moment that the reader was expecting. xD**

_**Fun Fact**_**: That scene also has a name, just like the Cake Scene has a name. This was called the Alcove Scene.  
****Creative, I know.  
So all I had to do was mention an alcove to get Real-Life Sierra to whack me over the head.**

**Review? For alcoves?**


	27. Chapter 27

_**Mrs. Lawliet**_**: **Oooh, I'm glad you like it~~

_**Reader**_**: **Huzzah! I think you've got it...yes, correct! ^^

_**kawaiimint**_**: **Aw, well...I'm glad you liked it enough to want to squeal. ;v; Gosh.

**Oh god whoops; I almost forgot to update today. Argh...**

**Well, um, enjoy?**

* * *

"L, why are my boobs so huge?" Sam asked absently as she took a shower.

Silence prevailed in his thoughts.

"Do you think my boobs look big?" she asked thoughtfully.

_Samantha… I'd prefer if you'd not ask these things._

_But I like torturing you! _she thought with a grin. "I wonder what I taste like," she mused.

_Last time I checked, vanilla, _he thought dully.

"And cardboard. Don't forget cardboard."

_You… don't taste like cardboard, Samantha…._

"I don't? Well, okay." She paused. "L, what if I was, like, _really _fat?"

There was a loud knocking sound that permeated the pattering of the water cascading over her head from the showerhead. "Sam?" Anna called. "Who are you talking to? L's not in there with you, is he?"

"No!" Sam snapped, going red. "What the hell, Anna?!"

"Well, you were talking, so I thought maybe he was actually there!" she defended.

"He's not, Anna. God!" She turned off the water and stepped out, wrapping a towel around herself. She used a second towel to wrap her hair in.

_It seems your torturing of me backfired, _L remarked, and she frowned.

"Meh," she muttered, and stalked to the door before swinging it open. She swung her arm to gesture to the bathroom. "See, Anna? No L."

"Okay… I believed you," she said blankly.

Sam rolled her eyes and stepped out into the kitchen. "Shouldn't you be getting ready to go to SPK headquarters, Anna?"

"Near said I could have off today," she said softly, and Sam looked at her.

"Why?" she asked.

She wrapped her arms around herself, considering telling her for a moment. "BB caught me the other night," she mumbled.

Sam stared at her. _Oh, God, that bastard's definitely going down now. First he nearly kills _me_… but now _Anna_? Damn it, BB!_ "Well, he's a bastard."

"I kinda agree. And to top it all off…." She rocked on her heels. "I think I might have indirectly killed Sophia, and that makes me feel sick…."

"Kill Sophia?" Sam repeated. "What do you mean?"

She shook her head. "Near told me to give Sophia some jam…. Apparently it was poisoned…. And it was supposed to kill BB, but then he was alive, so…."

Sam processed this for a second. B's Bond… dead. How would that feel? Could it really be true; that Sophia could be dead and B wasn't? "Was something wrong with B when you saw him?" she asked her.

"He was kinda out of it when I first saw him, if that's what you mean," Anna answered. "And… he was kinda shaky when… after… after I woke up again." She paused, looking down. "But that might have been because I stabbed him."

_The fact she was able to wake up at all means that B isn't at his best. Otherwise, she'd be fully sedated. Then… he wouldn't let himself be stabbed like that. Something's definitely wrong. Is Sophia really dead…? _Sam blinked. "You stabbed him?"

"Yeah…. Near told me to…. It was the best way to get out of there…."

"Where did you stab him?"

She frowned and looked up. "I don't know! I can't _remember_."

"Sorry," Sam responded.

Anna crossed her arms. "Anyway… where's Aunt Natalie, do you know?"

Sam blinked again. "I thought she was still sleeping."

"She's not in her room."

"Oh…," Sam said bemusedly, thinking about it. "_Oh_." She said upon enlightenment. "_Ohhh_…." She grinned impishly.

"What?" Anna asked blankly.

* * *

_I hate myself, _I thought dully, staring at a clock on the bed stand glowing green. 6:30.

"If you hate sleeping here so much, leave earlier," Light remarked in amused tones. His arms were wrapped around me, though this time, at least, I was facing away from him. Staring at that clock. 6:31.

"Feh," was my intelligent response. He, in turn, replied with simple little chuckle, and released me. I breathed a little easier then.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood. _Poo you_, I thought, and rolled off my side, falling to the floor with a thump. "Oww…." I immediately realized that had hurt him too, and facepalmed. "You know what?" I muttered irately, and sat up. "You know _what_?" I headed to his kitchen with my arms crossed. I was about to ask for bread when I remembered he didn't have a gosh-darned _toaster_, and so I sighed lightly and decided that perhaps I would eat breakfast at home after all.

I headed to the door, but Light stopped me to give a light kiss on the cheek before saying gently, "I'll see you later."

"Yeah," was my wonderful answer, and I left out the door and into the warm air outside. _Great, it's even warmer out here. _I thought, and Light chuckled again as I closed the door behind me. Sam would be waiting for me, I knew it. Oh well. She couldn't really do anything but tease me, and after all, she'd been with L more often…. No matter. I would go home, be teased by Sam, eat my food, and head to work. And that was exactly what I did. The only difference was that Anna decided to partake in the fun, and I couldn't exactly thwart her efforts. So, I was stuck with her pelting me with her own teases as I tried to eat breakfast. Luckily, this time, it didn't really affect me. Sam was laughing. At least the toast was good.

Work was uneventful. I learned a few things at the mini Police Academy I practiced at, but other than that, absolutely nothing happened. It was around lunchtime that something actually significant happened, and really it was just Light and I going to lunch at his mother's house. After all, I hadn't been to that house since before Soichiro died, and the last time I'd seen Sachiko and Sayu was actually at Misa's funeral…. Before that, it had been before Sayu had been kidnapped. Yeah… I didn't see them that often. I'd need to work on that, all things considered.

"Oh, Light!" Sachiko greeted warmly, a smile on her face. "And Natsumi, you've come too! Come on in…." She moved to the side to allow us entry, and Light closed the door behind us. We took off our shoes there, and Sachiko headed into the living room, telling us that the tea was already made as she left. We made our way after her to find Sayu sitting on the couch.

"Hi, Sayu," I smiled as we walked further in. "How are you?"

She looked at me for a moment, her eyes hollow, but slowly she came to and said, "Oh… hi, Natsumi. I'm fine…. How are you?"

"I'm great," I told her. Seeing her like this when I'd known her before the kidnapping made me sad. And with Light's memories following that, it made it worse….

"Come now, Sayu," said Light lightly, as he sat on the couch and I followed. "Aren't you going to say hello to your older brother?"

"I was getting there…," she mumbled, then looked at him. "'Hi, Big Brother; I missed you so much.' Is that better?"

Light smiled. "Yes; thank you."

She smiled back.

"I've got your lunch," said Sachiko, coming back in with a tray of tea and teacups. "I'll get that in a moment, but first here are your drinks…." She set them on the table and turned to Light. "It's nice seeing you again, Light." She looked to me. "And you too, Natsumi."

"Hug?" I asked her, adding hopefulness to my tone.

"Of course, dear," she said, and hugged me. "You must be so uncertain now, aren't you?" she asked, looking at me. "Life seems to throw death at you at the worst of times, doesn't it?" She smiled wearily, and I gave a sad smile in return.

"Too true," I agreed.

"Just know that we think of you like a part of our family, now, alright?" she asked.

"Thank you."

She smiled. "I'll go get your lunches." She looked to Light. "I know you haven't got a lot of time for a lunch break."

"Anything new, Sayu?" I asked as Sachiko headed off again.

"Not really…," she responded. "No. What about… what about you?"

"Oh we've got nothing new, really." (_You used 'we' again, Natalie._) "I really should be coming over more often. We need to talk more often…. You know, the only time I had a real conversation with you was the first time I met you; do you remember?"

"Yeah…," she answered, her eyes momentarily hazy. "I remember."

Sachiko came back in with a tray of onigiri, still smiling. This home seemed to be a smiley place, despite all the pain that had nestled here. "Light, you should be coming over more often," she said as she handed me a plate and I mumbled a thank you. "We hardly see you anymore."

"Yeah," Sayu agreed almost absently. "I like when you come over, Big Brother…."

"We do understand that you're busy, though," said Sachiko as she sat herself down to eat with us. "Especially with Kira back again, and all."

Something flickered in Sayu's eyes, and she straightened up. "Big Brother, don't be on the Kira case this time," she said, her eyes wide and her voice firm and clear and worried. "Please don't get yourself hurt again. …Or killed…."

"Sayu…," said Sachiko, her eyes sad again.

"Sayu, I'm fine," Light said reassuringly. "Don't worry; the NPA isn't on the Kira case anymore; I'm only working on normal police stuff."

She relaxed a little. "Okay…. Light… just be careful…."

"Of course I will, Sayu," he assured her, his voice lowering to a gentle tone. I merely took a bite of my onigiri, feeling ever so slightly out of place.

It wasn't long before Light and I finished our rice balls and tea, and soon we were giving our farewells to Sayu and Sachiko. As we exited the gate, I looked at Light one last time before we parted ways. His eyes were tired. This wasn't the Light that had written in the notebook for years, and had gotten used to it. This was the Light trying to adjust to being Kira, and one just had to look at his eyes to see that he was tired. It was beginning to weigh down on him again. But it was like a cycle, and he would get used to it…. One always did.

We walked separate ways without saying goodbye; we didn't have to. Normally, I would have gone the same direction as him. He was, after all, walking to NPA headquarters. I, however, had to stop at my house to grab a slice of apple crisp for Matsuda. I promised to bring him some. I'd made it last Monday, in a way to help Anna feel better after what had happened that night. I mean, she was nearly killed, why not make her some apple crisp? And she'd eaten a fair amount, too, all things considered.

As I walked, I pulled out my cell phone, heading to my contacts in order to call Mikami. I hadn't contacted him in awhile, and I just needed to make sure he was alright. "Hello?" his voice came in on the other end of the line.

"Hello, Mikami," I answered pleasantly. "It's Natsumi. Natalie, if you will."

"Yes; hello. As you know, not many people can call me anyhow."

"True; true," I conceded. "How are things?"

"As normal as they can be, considering the circumstances," he said. "I'm still trying my best to make myself at home."

"That's good," I told him. "I'm assuming you're still doing your work?"

"Of course. Sometimes it's the only thing I do…."

"It makes sense. You don't have much to occupy yourself with. And that's good, anyway. More work from you just means a better world."

I could feel him smiling. "Yes, Lady, I suppose you're right."

I raised my eyebrows. "Lady?" I repeated.

"Sorry—I've gotten into the habit of calling you that in my head. Lady and Goddess." He sounded ever so slightly embarrassed. If that's the right word. Maybe just…drawn back. I suppose falling apart and pulling himself together again had changed his character a bit, too, hadn't it?

I only smiled. "It's fine, Mikami. Just don't do that when you know you can't, alright?"

"Of course. It's just… I look ahead." He seemed to draw himself up again to the calm man he was. He was getting better now, at least. "Sometimes I just look ahead to the world that will be; the world that I hope I will be a part of. I look ahead and think of how the world will look up to God – Light, that is, and you…. You, as the Goddess. That's how I imagine it, anyway. Sometimes it's all one _can _do, with too much time on their hands and in a place where the progress seems stagnant."

"That is very true, Mikami. Now, I am almost home and my niece will be waiting. You'll continue in your work, yes?"

"Of course."

"And you're doing alright?"

"Yes, I'm just fine."

I smiled again. "Then good. I will contact you again eventually."

"Alright."

"Goodbye, Mikami," I said, and closed the cell phone before putting it back in my pocket.

I greeted Anna when I reached home, and we talked for a minute as I put a slice of apple crisp in a container, and then in a plastic bag to carry. Then I was off again, and heading to NPA headquarters to give my treat to Matsuda. I walked among the pedestrians of Tokyo, my mind wandering contentedly. Nothing new there. This went on for awhile, but as I passed another insignificant alley someone bumped into me, causing me to stumble sideways towards the dark alleyway. Before I could catch my balance, someone grabbed me and pulled me into the dark, shoving something sweet-smelling in my face, smothering my mouth and nose. I dropped the apple crisp, but it barely made a sound to my ears. I grabbed with ebbing strength at my holder's arms, but they only shoved the sweet-smelling cloth even more into my face. The world grew fuzzy; faded as dizziness took hold of me and sent me into darkness.

* * *

**So, um, hope you enjoyed the slightly short chapter. I hope nothing's wrong with it- I only got to do a quick edit just before updating, meaning right now. Soo... ^^;**

_**Fun Fact**_**: That awkward conversation with Sam and L? Real-Life Sam wanted it to happen. And yes. It happened in reality. xD**

**Review? For, ah, showers.**


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